Byzantine Bronze Oil Lamp Filler or Cosmetic Mortar

The Byzantine Empire, c. 400–900 AD

Excellent early Byzantine cast bronze oil-lamp filler or cosmetic mortar, featuring a beautifully balanced hemispherical body with a deep rounded bowl and a flattened base. A long, channeled spout likely once adorned this object—now lost—while a finely shaped flat lobed handle and smaller decorative lateral lugs complete the functional yet elegant form.

Objects of this type—characterized by a small rounded bowl, extended spout, and distinctive handles—have been the subject of varied scholarly interpretation, ranging from baby feeders to miniature lamps. The most convincing explanation, however, is that they served either as mortars for grinding and mixing cosmetic substances, which were then poured into small vessels through the narrow spout, or as refined oil-lamp fillers used to channel oil cleanly into terracotta lamps.

A superb example of Byzantine bronze craftsmanship from an empire that spanned over a millennium. With its rich patina, crisp casting, and multifunctional archaeological form, this is an evocative relic of daily domestic life in the Eastern Roman world—an object appreciated equally for its practicality and its artistic refinement.

Good condition. Wear consistent with age and use. Holes and missing parts. Surface scratches and corrosion due oxidation. Beautiful patina, light earthen deposits. Size approx. 9,2cm x 7,5cm x 2,3cm.

Provenance: Danish private collection.

For a similar examples see:

Cosmetic Mortar or Lamp Filler, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Byzantine Collection, Washington, D.C., Accession Number: BZ.1988.1 (http://museum.doaks.org/objects-1/info/36697)

Cosmetic-mortar, The British Museum, Accession Number: 2007,6001.14209 (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_2007-6001-14209)

Cosmetics Mortar, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number: 39.40.100 (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/449632)

References and further reading:

Byzantine Empire, Mark Cartwright, World History Encyclopedia. Last modified September 19, 2018. (https://www.worldhistory.org/Byzantine_Empire/.)

Cosmetics Mortar, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/449632)