Oil lamp (copy) in the shape of a right foot with shoe
19th century. Bronze. Filling hole in ankle, spout made in the big toe, ring-shaped handle in heel
Transferred to the Musée d’art et d’histoire in 2018; gift from Aloïse Pictet (1890-1952) to the Ethnography Museum in 1940; brought back from Egypt by her husband Oswald Pictet (1844-1904); context of creation not documented
Ville de Genève, Musée d’art et d’histoire, Inv. A 2018-0175
©Photo Johnathan Watts/MEG
19th century. Bronze. Filling hole in ankle, spout made in the big toe, ring-shaped handle in heel
Transferred to the Musée d’art et d’histoire in 2018; gift from Aloïse Pictet (1890-1952) to the Ethnography Museum in 1940; brought back from Egypt by her husband Oswald Pictet (1844-1904); context of creation not documented
Ville de Genève, Musée d’art et d’histoire, Inv. A 2018-0175
©Photo Johnathan Watts/MEG
of lighting in antiquity – reflects the artisans’ know-how and inventiveness. Those in the shape of a foot, with or without a shoe, were highly prized. Considered a lucky charm, the right foot is that most represented. This type of lamp, produced from the Hellenistic period on, was very popular in the 1st and
2nd centuries AD. But this model in bronze, thought to have been acquired in 1888 during a journey in Egypt, was a copy, like many sold to European travellers in the late 19th century. B. Blandin