Oil Lamp
1100-1200 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The well is shaped like a bowl with flat base and rounded sides, a low moulding around the opening serving as a neck. The lid is moulded in the form of a feline mask. Two wick-holders project from the front of the well. These cut through the middle of the bowl, the underside is on a level with the flat base. The wick-holders have straight, parallel sides, the upper side horizontal, the underside slanting slightly and then more sharply up to the lotus bud-shaped opening. A lateral flange in the form of a tri-lobed arch projects from either side of the well. At the rear is a ring handle surmounted by a thumb-rest which rises at a 45' angle.
Below, three chamfered legs descend at a slant then break at an angle into quarter circles resting on hexagonal feet. Engraved decoration consisting of foliated scrolls is confined to the two trefoil flanges, a band that encircles the well mouth and the plates that partially cover the spouts. The upperside of the thumb rest has an engraved design of addorsed birds looking back to peck at an inverted lotus bud.
Patina: Uniform, mat blackish brown
Below, three chamfered legs descend at a slant then break at an angle into quarter circles resting on hexagonal feet. Engraved decoration consisting of foliated scrolls is confined to the two trefoil flanges, a band that encircles the well mouth and the plates that partially cover the spouts. The upperside of the thumb rest has an engraved design of addorsed birds looking back to peck at an inverted lotus bud.
Patina: Uniform, mat blackish brown
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Cast brass with engraved decoration |
| Brief description | Cast bronze oil lamp, on tripod feet with two wicks with engraved decoration, Iran (Khorasan), 12th century |
| Physical description | The well is shaped like a bowl with flat base and rounded sides, a low moulding around the opening serving as a neck. The lid is moulded in the form of a feline mask. Two wick-holders project from the front of the well. These cut through the middle of the bowl, the underside is on a level with the flat base. The wick-holders have straight, parallel sides, the upper side horizontal, the underside slanting slightly and then more sharply up to the lotus bud-shaped opening. A lateral flange in the form of a tri-lobed arch projects from either side of the well. At the rear is a ring handle surmounted by a thumb-rest which rises at a 45' angle. Below, three chamfered legs descend at a slant then break at an angle into quarter circles resting on hexagonal feet. Engraved decoration consisting of foliated scrolls is confined to the two trefoil flanges, a band that encircles the well mouth and the plates that partially cover the spouts. The upperside of the thumb rest has an engraved design of addorsed birds looking back to peck at an inverted lotus bud. Patina: Uniform, mat blackish brown |
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| Style | |
| Gallery label |
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| Object history | Purchased for £10 from Signore C. Filippo, 131 Rue Bonaparte, Paris, 27 September 1909 Historical significance: The thumb-rest compares with that of an ewer found at Shahrestan in Mavera al-Nahr. Two unpublished pieces in the Muzim-i Bakhtar at Mazar-i Sharif and the Muzim-i Rawza at Ghazni are fitted with comparable lids. The feet can be compared with those of a three-wick lamp reportedly excavated on the site of khanqah of Baha al-Din Valad, Mowlavi's father, 40 km from Balkh. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.112-1909 |
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| Record created | April 20, 2000 |
| Record URL |
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