Lamp

The Palestine Institute of the Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, CA, by 1931-1933;

Acquired from the Pacific School of Religion by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1933.

NOTES:

[1] The Nelson-Atkins and the Pacific School of Religion co-sponsored an archaeological expedition at Tell en-Nasbeh, northwest of Jerusalem, in 1932. The expedition was led by Dr. William Frederic Badé. The partage agreement between the institutions specified that if the artistic quality of the found objects was not satisfactory to the Nelson-Atkins, the Pacific School of Religion would transfer objects from its own collection to the Nelson-Atkins to supplement the more recent finds. This object is one of a group seven lamps transferred from the Pacific School of Religion to the Nelson-Atkins as a result of this agreement. William Frederic Badè wrote in a letter to J. C. Nichols, Nelson-Atkins Trustee, July 1, 1933, NAMA Registration Files: “We have included, from our earlier acquisitions, a series of Hellenistic picture lamps from various sites in Lower Egypt. They represent the height of artistic lamp production during the period when Greek art and literature were at their height in Egypt, with Alexandria at the centre.” An inventory list in the NAMA Registration files identifies this piece as from Arsinoe, Fayoum, Egypt.