DavidsSamlingGennem24År

17/1970 Mosque lamp

1 7 /1 9 7 0 M o s k é la m p e

Persia, Mesopotamia (?) 10th century

P e rs ie n , M e s o p o ta m ie n ? 10. å r h u n d re d e

Bronze. Height without chain:26, Diam. at top 40

B ro n z e . H ø jd e u d e n k æ d e :2 6 , D ia m . fo r o v e n 4 0

The typical mosque is a large, open room with little furnishing and a carpeted floor on which the believers gather in prayer five times a day. The sources of light that are necessary apart from natural ones are therefore suspended from ceilings and niches. Mosque lamps are to be found in many different forms, but the classical type consists of a more or less spherical shape provided with a means ofsuspension, an outward sloping collar at the top and a foot or base of varying height. The material can be metal, glass and even ceramics. The lamp illustrated has had an oil-well ofglass and the light has shoneforth through the pierced walls leaving the simple Kufic lettering in silhouette: “Bism Allah” (In God’s Name). The dating and geographical placing of the Museum’s lamp are to a certain extent uncertain. The design is very similar to afragment of a lamp in the Art Institute in Chicago that can be roughly dated to the 9th or 10th century, but in our case a somewhat later dating cannot be dismissed. Persia is possibly the country of origin, because a number of lamp fragments ofsimilar type have been excavated near Rayy. The three suspensory chains are not of any immediate help. Although more or less contemporary with the lamp, they did not originally belong to it. Despite elements of uncertainty this lamp is probably the best preserved of the very early type that later was to becomefamous through the enamelled glass lamps of the Mamelukes.

D e n ty p is k e m o s k é e r e t s to r t, å b e n t r u m u d e n m e g e t in v e n ta r o g m e d e t tæ p p e b e la g t g u lv , h v o r ­ p å d e tr o e n d e sa m le s i b ø n fe m g a n g e o m d a g e n . D e ly s k ild e r, d e r e r b r u g fo r u d o v e r d e n n a tu r lig e , n e d h æ n g e s d e r fo r fra lo f te r o g n ic h e r. M o s k é la m p e r fin d e s i fle re fo rs k e llig e u d f o r m ­ n in g e r , m e n d e n k la s sisk e b e s tå r a f e t m e r e e lle r m in d r e k u g le f o r m e t k o r p u s f o r s y n e t m e d o p ­ h æ n g , e n u d a d s k r å n e n d e k ra v e f o r o v e n o g e n fo d e lle r b u n d a f v a r ie re n d e h ø jd e . M a te r ia le t k a n v æ ­ re m e ta l, g las o g e n d d a k e r a m ik . D e n a fb ild e d e la m p e h a r in d e h o ld t e n g la s b e h o ld e r m e d o lie o g v æ g e , o g ly s e t e r s tr ø m m e t u d g e n n e m d e p e r fo ­ r e re d e v æ g g e e fte rla d e n d e d e n e n k le k u f i- s k r if t i s ilh o u e t: »Bism Allah - I Guds navn«. D a te r in g o g g e o g ra fis k p la c e rin g a f m u s e e ts la m p e e r i n o g e n g r a d u s ik k e r. D e n m in d e r m e s t i u d f o r m n in g o m e t la m p e f r a g m e n t i A r t In s titu te , C h ic a g o , s o m s k ø n s m æ s s ig t d a te re s til 9. -1 0 . å r­ h u n d r e d e , m e n e n n o g e t se n e re d a te rin g k a n ik k e a fv ise s i v o r t tilfæ ld e . P e rs ie n e r e t m u lig t o p h a v s ­ la n d , id e t m a n h a r u d g r a v e t e n r æ k k e la m p e fr a g ­ m e n te r a f lig n e n d e ty p e n æ r R a y y . D e tre k æ d e ­ o p h æ n g e r ik k e til n o g e n u m id d e lb a r h jæ lp , d a d e n o k e r n o g e n lu n d e s a m tid ig e m e d la m p e n , m e n ik k e o p r in d e lig t s a m h ø r e n d e m e d d e n n e . U s ik k e r h e d e n tiltr o d s e r la m p e n v e l d e n b e d s t b e v a r e d e a f d e n h e lt tid lig e ty p e , s o m s id e n sk u lle b liv e b e r ø m t g e n n e m M a m lu k k e r n e s e m a lje re d e g la s a m p le r.

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