Description
| ITEM | Factory oil lamp with chimera, Type Bussière D X 4 |
| MATERIAL | Terracotta |
| CULTURE | Roman |
| PERIOD | 175 – 250 A.D |
| DIMENSIONS | 40 mm x 70 mm x 98 mm |
| CONDITION | Good condition |
| PROVENANCE | Ex Emeritus collection (USA), collected from the 1950’s to the 1980’s by a distinguished university professor who served as Department head, Dean and Vice President of a major university. |
| PARALLEL | DENEAUVE, J., Lampes de Carthage, Plate LXXXVII, Fig. 957 |
The Chimera, according to Greek mythology, was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of different animal parts from Lycia, Asia Minor. It is usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat protruding from its back, and a tail that might end with a snake’s head. It was an offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra.
The term “chimera” has come to describe any mythical or fictional creature with parts taken from various animals, to describe anything composed of very disparate parts, or perceived as wildly imaginative, implausible, or dazzling.
