The Palmette Decoration on Northern Stamped Lamps: Transformation of a Classical Motif

Abstract

This article examines the palmette motif on Northern Stamped Lamps, a distinctive group of clay oil lamps, produced in northern workshops between the third and sixth centuries CE. While the palmette motif largely disappears from other mass-produced lamp types of the Late Roman and Byzantine periods, it becomes the dominant decorative element on this northern group. By placing the palmette motif at the center of the analysis and comparing its use across other contemporary and technologically related media, this study contextualizes its distinctive treatment on Northern Stamped Lamps within the broader artistic trends of Late Antique Galilee and Phoenicia. The findings suggest that the persistent and varied use of the palmette reflects both the creative agency of local artisans and a regional aesthetic language that reinterpreted classical decorative norms. The endurance of the palmette on Northern Stamped Lamps reveals how form, technique, and culture interacted to shape artistic change in Late Antiquity.