Brass lamp with openwork decoration, engraved and inlaid with silver
Egypt; 14th century
H including hook: 71.5 cm
Inventory number 37/1982
Together with enameled glass lamps, hexagonal lanterns of this type were common in the western Islamic sphere in the 14th and 15th century. Seven circular holes were made in the base for little glass containers, each of them a little oil lamp.
The lantern was made up of parts from different lamps at an early date. The door with the characteristic Mamluk coat of arms – with a sword, a cup, two polo sticks, and a crescent moon – is of slightly poorer quality than the rest.
The dome is inscribed with the name of the Mamluk sultan Nasir al-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun, who ruled three times between 1293-4 and 1341.
The lantern was made up of parts from different lamps at an early date. The door with the characteristic Mamluk coat of arms – with a sword, a cup, two polo sticks, and a crescent moon – is of slightly poorer quality than the rest.
The dome is inscribed with the name of the Mamluk sultan Nasir al-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun, who ruled three times between 1293-4 and 1341.
Published in
Published in
Kjeld von Folsach: Islamic art. The David Collection, Copenhagen 1990, cat.no. 339;
Kjeld von Folsach, Torben Lundbæk and Peder Mortensen (eds.): Sultan, Shah and Great Mughal: the history and culture of the Islamic world, The National Museum, Copenhagen 1996, cat.no. 29;
Kjeld von Folsach: Art from the World of Islam in The David Collection, Copenhagen 2001, cat.no. 515;
Jonathan Bloom and Sheila Blair (eds.): God is the light of the heavens and the earth: light in Islamic art and culture, New Haven 2015, fig. 210, p. 245;
Kjeld von Folsach, Torben Lundbæk and Peder Mortensen (eds.): Sultan, Shah and Great Mughal: the history and culture of the Islamic world, The National Museum, Copenhagen 1996, cat.no. 29;
Kjeld von Folsach: Art from the World of Islam in The David Collection, Copenhagen 2001, cat.no. 515;
Jonathan Bloom and Sheila Blair (eds.): God is the light of the heavens and the earth: light in Islamic art and culture, New Haven 2015, fig. 210, p. 245;
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg?disposition=attachment){kind=link}