On the lamp, eight leaping dolphins appear above a marine wave. In Etruscan culture, the dolphin was a symbol rich in meaning, often associated with the sea, death, and rebirth. Frequently depicted in funerary art, it represented a guide for the soul toward the afterlife, assuming a psychopomp role.
As a creature of the sea, it also evoked purification and renewal, in keeping with the symbolic value of water for the Etruscans. The sea waves themselves symbolize the boundaries of the earthly world.