Glass lamp with three falconers painted in enamel, Egypt or Syria, around 1250.

Footed lamp of yellowish grayish colourless glass, moulded in a pattern of vertical ribs with a globular body and flared neck. Decorated on three sides with horsemen holding falcons in red, white and yellow enamels. Gilded floriated band around the neck and foot outlined in red and a fish and a bird outlined in red appear on the body of the lamp. Three small suspension rings are attached to the sides of the lamp, the areas around them gilded and outlined in red. A narrow tube for the wick is attached to the interior at the bottom of the lamp. Said to have been found in a Christian monastery in Syria. The use of figural decoration showes the pleasures of hunting with hawks. This indicates that the lamp was made for secular rather than religious use.

Said to have been found in a Christian monastery in Syria but most likely was commissioned by a wealthy Muslim, either for his home or for a hunting lodge.

By the thirteenth century, glass lamps had attained their deinitive shape, characterized by a nearly globular body, a long flared neck and an attached flared foot. For three centuries prior, they had been vase or beaker shaped. This is the only known lamp to feature figural decoration, other examples of gilded and enamelled lamps were used to light mosques and as such feature vegetal and geometric motifs. Ribs are the only molded pattern ever used on enamelled vessels (see Kenesson in Ward, Gilded and Enamelled Glass of the Near and Middle East, 1998, pl. 12.4 for an example in Washington). The shallowness of the ribs on this vessel suggests the lamp was reblown or optic blown outside the mold.

This glass lamp is thought to have been made in Syria in around 1250. It is the only known example of an Islamic lamp with figures in the gilded and enamelled decoration. This indicates that it was made for use in a secular context, since figures were never used on objects made for mosques and other religious buildings. The lamp has a boldly waisted body, rounded below and flaring above. To this were added a high foot, three suspension loops and, at the bottom of the reservoir, a tubular wick-holder. The body was blown in a mould, giving it a gently ribbed exterior. The sparse decoration consists principally of a trio of mounted falconers, each set between pairs of suspension hooks.

330-1900