The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Mosque Lamp

Mosque Lamp

late 1800s
glass with enameled and gilded decoration
Overall: 39.5 cm (15 9/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1981.10
Location: 116 Islamic

Did You Know?

This colorful lamp would have been suspended by its six handles. When lowered to refill its oil, it could stand securely on its splayed foot.

Description

In late 1800s Europe, there was a renewed interest in art from the Islamic world. Mosque lamps, made for Mamluk rulers and their high officials in the 1300s, were particularly prized. Phillippe-Joseph Brocard, a Parisian collector and craftsman, is renowned for reviving the Mamluk technique of enameling and gilding glass and produced many lamp reproductions. This lamp used to be in his collection and it is possible that it was made by him. The top Qur’anic inscription likens divine light to a shining glass lamp.
  • late 1800s
    Philippe-Joseph Brocard [1831–1896], Paris, France
    Georges Demotte [1877-1923], New York, NY
    Ispenian
    ?-1981
    (Spink & Son, Ltd., London, UK, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1981-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Wiet, Gaston. Catalogue général du Musée arabe du Caire; lampes et bouteilles en verre émaillé. Le Caire: Impr. de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale, 1929. p. 156
    Mayer, L. A. Saracenic Heraldry, a Survey. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933. p. 213
    “Recent Important Acquisitions: Made by Public and Private Collections in the United States and Abroad.” Journal of Glass Studies, vol. 24, 1982, pp. 87–114. Reproduced: p. 90, no. 12 24190670
    Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1981."€ The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 69, no. 2, 1982, pp. 39-82. Mentioned: p. 78, no. 8; Reproduced: p. 68 www.jstor.org
  • Art of the Islamic World (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (May 21, 2021-May 31, 2022).
    The Year in Review for 1981. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
  • {{cite web|title=Mosque Lamp|url=false|author=|year=late 1800s|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1981.10