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

Mosque Lamp

1342-1345 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This footed lamp is made of greyish colourless glass, decorated with red, white and blue enamels. It has a flared base and a slightly less flaring neck. The inscriptions and blazons on it can be related to Shibl al-Daula Kafur al-Rumi, who was the treasurer of the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, al-Salih Isma’il (1342-1345). It was probably ordered to form part of the decorative lighting for a building commissioned by Kafur al-Rumi on behalf of this ruler.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Glass, gilded and enamelled
Brief description
Lamp with inscriptions naming the Mamluk official Kafur al-Rumi, Egypt, 1342-5.
Physical description
Footed lamp of greyish colorless glass decorated with red, white, blue enamels. Flared base and less flared neck. Inscriptions and blazon of Shibl al-Daula Kafur al-Rumi, treasurer to the Mamluk Sultan al-Salih Isma`il (1342-45)
Dimensions
  • Height: 26cm
  • Maximum width: 17cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
Inscriptions and blazon of Shibl al-Daula Kafur al-Rumi, treasurer to the Mamluk Sultan al-Salih Isma'il (1342-45) (Decoration; Arabic; naskhi; on body)
Gallery label
Jameel Gallery Glass Lamps Egypt or Syria About 1250 and 1342–5 The lamp on the left is decorated with three mounted falconers. The presence of human figures indicates that it was made for a domestic, non-religious setting. The lamp on the right has no figures. It was probably commissioned for a religious institution by a Mamluk official called Kafur al-Rumi, who is named in the inscriptions. Glass, enamelled and gilded Museum nos. 330-1900; 6820-1860(Jameel Gallery)
Object history
Ordered for a building commissioned by Kafur al-Rumi, Treasurer to the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt al-Salih Ismail (1342-45).
Production
date: 'probably'
Subject depicted
Summary
This footed lamp is made of greyish colourless glass, decorated with red, white and blue enamels. It has a flared base and a slightly less flaring neck. The inscriptions and blazons on it can be related to Shibl al-Daula Kafur al-Rumi, who was the treasurer of the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, al-Salih Isma’il (1342-1345). It was probably ordered to form part of the decorative lighting for a building commissioned by Kafur al-Rumi on behalf of this ruler.
Bibliographic references
  • Lamm (1930; 200:2), Wiet (1929;p.164,no.51), Mayer (Saracenic Heraldry; p.135)
  • Tim Stanley (ed.), with Mariam Rosser-Owen and Stephen Vernoit, Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East, London, V&A Publications, 2004 pp.24, 45, 49, 52
Collection
Accession number
6820-1860

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Record createdDecember 13, 1997
Record URL
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