Candlestick thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Islamic Middle East, Room 42, The Jameel Gallery

Candlestick

14th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This lamp stand is a very late example of a shape inherited from the ancient world. The upper section, now missing, would have supported a tray for small oil lamps. The decoration, however, is typical of the 14th century. The inscription praises an unnamed Mamluk official.

The lamp stand is decorated in a style that developed during the first century of Mamluk rule in Egypt and Syria (1250–1350). This was the period when the sultanate was at the height of its power. The secular decoration on objects like this shows that they were made for palaces rather than religious buildings.

At first, scenes with human figures were common. These disappeared after 1300, and elegant inscriptions in Arabic became more prominent. The texts all name the patron or glorify the sultan.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Hammered brass inlaid with chased silver and engraved
Brief description
Brass lampstand inlaid with inscriptions, Egypt or Syria, 14th century.
Physical description
Base of a candlestick, brass inlaid with chased silver and engraved with birds and arabesques. Round central band with inscription in silver inlay naming the owner and attributing date of 14th century. Remaining medallions are filled with birds and arrangements of whorled bands.
Dimensions
  • Height: 31cm
  • Maximum width: 28.8cm
Style
Gallery label
Jameel Gallery Lampstand Egypt or Syria 1300-1400 This is a very late example of a shape inherited from the ancient world. The upper section, now missing, would have supported a tray for small oil lamps. The decoration, however, is typical of the 14th century. As on the basin to the left, the inscription praises an unnamed Mamluk official. Brass inlaid with silver and a black composition Museum no. 912-1884(Jameel Gallery)
Object history
Bought from the collection of Gaston de Saint-Maurice (1831-1905) in 1884. Saint-Maurice displayed his extensive art collection at the 1878 Paris exhibition, in a gallery entitled L'Egypte des Khalifes. This was part of an official sequence of displays celebrating the history of Egypt, presented by the Egyptian state at this international event. Saint-Maurice held a position at the Khedival court, and had lived in Cairo in 1868-1878. Following the exhibition, Saint-Maurice offered his collection for sale to the South Kensington Museum (today the V&A).
Subjects depicted
Associations
Summary
This lamp stand is a very late example of a shape inherited from the ancient world. The upper section, now missing, would have supported a tray for small oil lamps. The decoration, however, is typical of the 14th century. The inscription praises an unnamed Mamluk official.

The lamp stand is decorated in a style that developed during the first century of Mamluk rule in Egypt and Syria (1250–1350). This was the period when the sultanate was at the height of its power. The secular decoration on objects like this shows that they were made for palaces rather than religious buildings.

At first, scenes with human figures were common. These disappeared after 1300, and elegant inscriptions in Arabic became more prominent. The texts all name the patron or glorify the sultan.
Bibliographic reference
Stanley Lane-Poole, The Art of the Saracens in Egypt, London, 1886, p. 232.
Collection
Accession number
912-1884

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Record createdDecember 7, 2004
Record URL
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