Lucerne with grotesque character scene. Rome, I - III century A.D.

Lucerne with grotesque character scene. Rome, I - III century A.D.
Terracotta.
Provenance: Private collection, Paris, France.
Good state of preservation.
Measurements: 9 cm long.

Roman terracotta lantern decorated on the disk with a small figure of grotesque or caricatured character, framed by concentric circles in relief. The piece retains the characteristic shape of Roman oil lamps, with a circular reservoir, front spout and visible feeding hole next to the central scene.

The character represented introduces a note of visual humor, very much in keeping with certain popular repertoires of the Roman world, where the grotesque, the theatrical and satirical coexisted with religious, mythological or everyday images. This type of decoration reveals the Roman taste for expressive and narrative motifs even in household objects.