Oil lamp, brass inlaid with silver
This monumental oil lamp consists of two parts, the lower a traditional candlestick and the upper a shaft with a bowl for oil. It must be considered one of the last masterpieces in the inlaying tradition.
The splendidly calligraphed Thuluth inscription shows that the lamp was ordered by or for the leader of the Aq Qoyunlu Turkmen, Uzun Hasan, who ruled eastern Anatolia, Iraq, and large parts of Iran in around 1470. It was presumably intended to be placed in the mausoleum of the Sufi sheikh Haci Bayram Veli in Ankara, but this was prevented by the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II, who defeated Uzun Hasan soundly at Tercan in eastern Anatolia in 1473.
The splendidly calligraphed Thuluth inscription shows that the lamp was ordered by or for the leader of the Aq Qoyunlu Turkmen, Uzun Hasan, who ruled eastern Anatolia, Iraq, and large parts of Iran in around 1470. It was presumably intended to be placed in the mausoleum of the Sufi sheikh Haci Bayram Veli in Ankara, but this was prevented by the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II, who defeated Uzun Hasan soundly at Tercan in eastern Anatolia in 1473.