Lot Essay
This superbly finished oil lamp is full of classical allusions which would have been appreciated by its owner in the later 18th or early 19th century. Chief among them are the reference to Jupiter, through his attribute the eagle, and Jupiter's son, Hercules, through the presence of the lion's head. In addition, the claw foot was probably inspired by oil lamps with similar supports which were created in the 16th century but which, in later years, were mistakenly thought to date from antiquity.