Publication Date
8th/14th century
Publication Place
-
Royal Museum, National Museum of Scotland NMS
Subject
Flakes of hammered and grooved brass with traces of silver inlay.
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
الارتفاع: 27.94 سم؛ القطر عند القاعدة: 25.40 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
A. 1966.79
Record ID
object;ISL;uk;Mus03;19;ar
Library Location
Royal Museum, National Museum of Scotland NMS
Date
8th/14th century
Notes
A candlestick with a cone-shaped body, double rings on the lower edge and under the shoulder that was flattened, leading to the candlestick being vandalized and repaired. The cylindrical neck rises from the center of the shoulder, and ends with a cup, which is the socket that used to hold the candle. The socket cup reflects the shape of the body with its double rings around the base and the opening, and it has also been damaged and distorted, affecting the shape of the cup. The candlestick is decorated with incised decoration, most of which is inlaid with silver. On the socket cup is a band of engraving with cursive letters, interrupted by circular ornaments decorated with scrolled florets arranged within a simple continuous frame. The inscription mentions the official titles of the owner, and the cup-rings of the socket are decorated in a fretwork. The neck has three bands, the outer two of which contain trellis-shaped decoration with single four-leaf motifs interrupted by two roundels with scrolls. The middle wide band bears a long inscription in the thuluth script on a ground of twisted leaves intersected by two large circular ornaments bearing lotus flowers, five-petaled flowers, and pink scrolls. The base of the neck is decorated with oblique leaf shapes and a band of modified decorations, while the shoulder contains two elongated frames alternating with two circular ornaments, filled with lotus flowers, and decorated with secondary patterns such as five-petaled flowers. The two rings under the shoulder bear decorations in the form of oblique leaves similar to those found on the base of the neck, and above and below them appears a narrow interlaced composition of coiled leaves. The body of the candlestick is decorated with two elongated inscriptional frames that alternate with two inscriptional roundels, while the rest of the floor is filled with geometric patterns in the shape of the letter T. The two frames mention the titles and name of Sultan Muhammad ibn Qalawun, who was deposed twice and ruled three times between the years 693 and 741 / 1293 and 1340. In the center of the two circular ornaments, titles are repeated: “Sultan Al-Nasser,” in addition to other titles emerging from them, in dense letters that are long, graceful, and sharp-edged. The decoration on the body at the base is finished with elongated leaf designs on the rings, between which is a braid of coiled leaves.
Sample Text
Ulrike Al-Khamis "Candlestick" in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;uk;Mus03;19;ar
