Ca. 200 AD A terracotta oil lamp of Loeschcke type VIII, shoulder IVa with a rounded body, central filling hole, short spout, and a looped handle. The recessed tondo depicts a scene of Leda and the Swan. Maker's mark to the bottom. Leda, a princess from Aetolia, who would later become the queen of Sparta, was carried off by Zeus, king of the gods, in the form of a swan. According to a later mythological tradition, their sexual union would lead to the birth of Helen and Polydeuces, two major figures in Greek mythology. This myth, therefore, encapsulates the origin of the most important myths from the ancient world, for it is the rape of Helen which directly leads to the Trojan War, and the first work of literature in the western world: Homer's Iliad. depicting Leda with the swan. Workshop mark on the bottom. For a similar see The J. Paul Getty Museum, Object Number: 83.AK.438.418. This piece has been precisely dated by means of a Thermo Luminescence analysis carried out by Ralf Kotalla, an independent German Laboratory. The samples collected date the piece to the period reflected in its style, whilst also showing no modern trace elements. The TL certificate with its full report will accompany this lot.Size: L:88.5mm / W:64mm ; 43.18gProvenance: Ex PR collection, southern Germany, around 1970 - mid-1990s, acquired in part from Galerie Günter Puhze, Freiburg, 1977.