Publication Date
4th century - first half of 5th century AH / 10th century - 11th century AD
Publication Place
-
Museum of Islamic Arts, Raqqada; Kairouan
Subject
Cast bronze.
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
القطر: 9.9 سم، الطول: 15.1 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
BZ 003
Record ID
object;ISL;tn;Mus01;16;ar
Library Location
Museum of Islamic Arts; sluggishness Kairouan
Date
4th century - first half of 5th century AH / 10th century - 11th century AD
Notes
This vessel rests on a wide base made up of ten hollow, raised surfaces. The hollow resembles a disc and has a tapered neck. Protruding from the inside of the vessel is a pouring vessel attached to the vessel, taking the shape of a boat keel, supported by a filling at the neck. The lower part of the spoon includes a deep, rounded channel and a grooved horizontal lip. The hollow of the vessel has the shape of an anchor reminiscent of the shape of an animal. On the other hand, the manufacture of this lamp involves some errors, including the neck being tilted from its center, the grip being made in an inexpert manner, and the handle being deviated from the axis of the pourer. The Islamic Middle Ages left a number of lamps similar in many respects to the African lamp, and the various pottery lamps, whether enamelled or unglazed, that spread from Andalusia to Egypt, present shapes similar to this lamp, and they are lamps dating back to the 2nd - 3rd century AH / 8th century AH. 9 AH, and presents definite changes compared to Byzantine lamps. All of these data indicate that Islamic lamps have been able to acquire a character of their own over the centuries. However, this lamp resembles, in its shape and dimensions, several lamps found in Portugal and Spain. This applies in particular to the lamp preserved in the Granada Museum for the side of the disc-shaped hollow of the vessel (reference Andalousies), and to the lamp preserved in the Museum of Jaén regarding the mouthpiece and the dodecahedral base (reference Andalousies), and to the lamp in the Marche de Vasselot artistic collection (Collection de Market de Vasselot) for the neck. The conical shape (reference (Marçais et Poinssot), all of which lead to believe in the possibility of the existence of a school in the Islamic West with techniques and distinctive features in the manufacture of bronze lamps. However, the African (Tunisian) lamp is distinguished by its simplicity and the symmetry of its various parts, which gives it a certain uniqueness, which is proven by the existence of a tradition of the art of coppersmithing in Kairouan.
Sample Text
Mourad Rammah “Lamp with a pourer” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;tn;Mus01;16;ar
