Description

Complete unpainted lamp decorated with the Actian prize-wreath on a competitive bank. The disc (the upper surface) of the lamp is decorated with a wreath on an elaborate table, below which is a wine decanter. The inscription AKTIAKA, a little lower, allows the representation to be identified: the wreath is the winner's prize in the sacred games of Nicopolis, the Aktia. They were wreath competitions, i.e. they had as a prize a wreath of reeds, laurel or ivy. During the games the wreaths were displayed on a table, the competition bank. The shoulder (the transition from the disc to the vertical walls of the vessel) is unadorned, except for two rectangular fittings ('bridges'). The inscription KARPOU on the base indicates the name of the workshop where it was manufactured. Karpos was active at the beginning of the 2nd century. A.D. and he also signs a small number of lamps that have been found outside of Nicopolis, in Corinth, Patras, etc. Whether by a local craftsman or not, the locally sourced subject of the coronal rim indicates the operation of a lamp production workshop in Nikopolis.