Reddish terracotta oil lamp with a relief of a scaly sea creature beside a tall doorway, on a pale background.

Terracotta volute lamp with sea monster

A reddish-orange terracotta oil lamp with a round body and a raised rim, its filling hole at left and wick nozzle below. The relief shows a crested, scaly creature rising beside a tall doorway or building on the right.

Look closer: The wick nozzle at the bottom has a small hole for the wick, set into the lamp's pointed base.

Artist: Unknown
Date: 1st century BCE–1st century CE
Medium: Terracotta
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Size: 4000 × 4000 px

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Public domain · The Metropolitan Museum of Art releases this image under CC0 (latest date 100).
Rights checked 2026-11-05 · tier A · as stated by the source: CC0 (The Met Open Access, isPublicDomain=true)

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, 1927

classical antiquity metropolitan museum ancient ceramics sea monster sea creature relief decoration roman art ancient rome