Lamp Lamp of Knowledge
Object number
LDSAL56
Production date
Medieval
14th century
14th century
Material
bronze
Dimensions
height: 130mm
width: 162mm
width: 162mm
References
Reference (free text)
Susan Pearce, ed., Visions of Antiquity: The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1707-2007 (London: Society of Antiquaries of London, 2007), p. 64, fig. 22.
Reference (free text)
David Gaimster, Sarah McCarthy, and Bernard Nurse, eds., Making History, Antiquaries in Britain, 1707-2007 (London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2007), p. 61, no. 32.
Illustration, p. 61.
Copper-alloy (bronze) lamp in two parts. The lamp body has been cast in one piece and has four hollow pointed nozzles radiating from a central octagonal bowl. From this four suspension arms extend up to a square top, which is pierced by a central aperture; from this the arms continue extending out at a 45 degree angle. The lamp has a hook underneath which would have held a dish for collecting drips.
The milled bronze stand which now accompanies the lamp is a much later addition; it is pierced by a series of three circular holes.
Presented to the Society in 1736 by Sir Hans Sloane and adopted as the Society’s emblem in 1770. It is depicted on the Society’s publications and represented in brass on the floor of its entrance at Burlington House, London. It is often accompanied by a Latin description ‘non extinguetur’ translated as ‘shall not be extinguished’, drawing an analogy between the lamp and the belief in knowledge and discovery that lies in the heart of the Society’s activities.
At first the lamp was presumed to be Roman; it was found in 1717 at St Leonard’s Hill, Windsor, together with other Roman remains, and closely resembles oil lamps discovered in Pompeii and Herculaneum. However, it is now known to date to the fourteenth century and may be Jewish in origin: lamps similar to this were lit in preparation for the Sabbath. Originally designed to be suspended, the lamp would have had a drip-pan hanging below the burners to collect leaking oil.
At first the lamp was presumed to be Roman; it was found in 1717 at St Leonard’s Hill, Windsor, together with other Roman remains, and closely resembles oil lamps discovered in Pompeii and Herculaneum. However, it is now known to date to the fourteenth century and may be Jewish in origin: lamps similar to this were lit in preparation for the Sabbath. Originally designed to be suspended, the lamp would have had a drip-pan hanging below the burners to collect leaking oil.