Publication Date
690 AH / 1291 AD
Publication Place
-
Batha Museum; Fez
Subject
Engraved and perforated brass.
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
القطر الأعلى: 67 سم؛ قطر القاعدة: 24.3 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
824.4
Record ID
object;ISL;ma;Mus01_C;20;ar
Library Location
Batha Museum; Fez
Date
690 AH / 1291 AD
Notes
This copper piece consists of a six-section hoop, placed on top of a cylinder supported by six stands. The collar, which is decorated with inscriptions and floral motifs linked to or independent of the inscriptions, serves as a plate on which the metal supports are fixed, on which the oil cups used as chandeliers are placed. The inscriptions are engraved on the two circular bands that define the area of the chandelier. The inscription on the outer band, written in cursive letters, refers to religious phrases and incantations, and the history of the manufacture of the chandelier. While the inner band, inscribed with Kufic letters, combines religious expressions with floral decoration. Between the two bands is inserted a wide, cantilevered floral field, decorated with perforated and engraved, and furnished with palmettes on branches (simple symmetrical palmettes emanating from a bracket, and double palmettes with buds). The same decorative arrangement is present on the floor of the lifting cylinder. Between the two bands decorated with cursive inscriptions and containing votive phrases extends a wide, perforated band bearing a Kufic inscription and floral decorations radiating from a small branch. The stands, decorated with floral decoration, also include an engraved floral decoration on the floor of the corner, and an inscriptional decoration with a votive theme in the rectangular frame. This lighting device remains the simplified prototype of the dished chandeliers used in the Almohad era until the beginning of the twentieth century to illuminate mosques and prayer halls in schools. These chandeliers represented decorations for holy places, and were elaborately decorated, especially during the Marinid periods. The chandeliers of the Taza Mosque and those in the Attarine Madrasa in Fez constitute the best examples of this.
Sample Text
Naima El Khatib-Boujibar "Soraya" in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;ma;Mus01_C;20;ar
