Featured as part of Encountering Religions in Asian Art
Historical Period(s)
ca. 1360, Mamluk period
Medium
Glass, enameled and gilded
Dimensions
H x W: 33.6 x 30.5 cm (13 1/4 x 12 in)
Geography
Egypt
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1957.19
Explore All Pieces in this Section
Title: Mosque lamp
Type: Furniture and Furnishing
Associated Religious Tradition: Islam
Origins
Geography: Egypt
Date: ca. 1360
Period: Mamluk[MAM-look]a dynasty that ruled over Syria and Egypt from 1250 to 1517. period (1250–1517)
Physical Properties
Material: Glass, enameled and gilded
Dimensions: H × W: 33.6 × 30.5 cm (13 1/4 × 12 in)
Crediting Information
Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Credit Line: Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment
AccessionNumber: F1957.19
Throughout the Islamic world, oil lamps were suspended from the rafters or ceilings to illuminate mosques. During the fourteenth century, when glassmaking flourished and became one of the most celebrated forms of Mamluk[MAM-look]a dynasty that ruled over Syria and Egypt from 1250 to 1517. art in Egypt and Syria, hundreds of lamps were commissioned by powerful rulers of the Mamluk dynasty (1250–1517). The Mamluk ruler Sultan Hasan (reigned 1347–51, 1354–61) ordered many finely made glass lamps for mosques and other religious spaces in Cairo, the Mamluk capital. This style of glass lamp may also have been used to light secular structures, but the most common usage was to adorn and light mosques.
The lamps were suspended from the ceiling—from wooden beams or strung on a circular metal frame within large spaces. Each lamp is often decorated with one of the most celebrated verses of the Qur’an (24:35), known as the Light Verse, which compares divine revelation to the light of a lamp. The beginning of the verse reads:
Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth.
The parable of His Light is a niche wherein is a crystal—
the lamp is in a crystal,
the glass as it were a shining star.
In its material, shape, and decoration, this fine mosque lamp is typical of those created in fourteenth-century Egypt, when the region was under the rule of the Mamluk[MAM-look]a dynasty that ruled over Syria and Egypt from 1250 to 1517. dynasty. The object has a high-flaring neck and a bulbous body with six suspension handles on the sloping shoulders.
Much of the surface is covered with intricate geometric designs, and the upper portion of the flaring neck is decorated with a broad band of inscriptions containing the beginning of the renowned Light Verse from the Qur’an. The production of such glass lamps was a labor-intensive, time-consuming, and costly process. Once the glass vessel was blown, the decoration, which is made from gold and/or enamels (powdered opaque glass), would be applied with a brush or a reed pen to the surface using an oil-based medium. The vessel would be refired so that the enamel would stick to the surface.
The cotton wicks of Mamluk lamps were commonly suspended in oil over a layer of water. When lit, the wick continuously absorbed oil as it floated on top of the water. Once the oil was finished, the remaining water extinguished the flame. The water also helped to cool the glass and direct light downward, illuminating spaces more fully. Lamps were also used in outdoor courtyards. The conical shape of the neck and high walls would protect the flame from the wind.
Mosque lamps can come in many shapes, sizes, and materials, and each region developed its own type. Today, electric lights have replaced oil lamps in contemporary mosques but remain symbolic reminders of the Qur’an’s verse of the Light. For example, the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, designed by the architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, suspends simple spherical lightbulbs from the ceiling in a perfect circle, which evokes the circle of traditional oil lamps. The building is lit with both natural light and electric lights. The mihrab[mih-RAHB]a niche in a religious structure that indicates the direction of Mecca toward which Muslims turn during their prayers., a niche that indicates the direction of Mecca[MEK-uh]Makka or Makkah [MAK-kuh] – the holiest site in Islam, located in the Hijaz region in the western part of present-day Saudi Arabia. The Ka’ba is located in Mecca., is made of panels of layered glass that create reflections of light. In this way, the architect has created a modern interpretation of the Light Verse in the Qur’an (24:35; see Background).
In 1993, the Islamic Cultural Center’s design was awarded the Edwin F. Guth Memorial Award of Excellence for Interior Lighting.
Describe what you see in the image. How many distinct and separate motifs are there? What are the differences between the motifs?
Compare the shape of this lamp to other objects you are familiar with. What does it remind you of? Why do you think the artists chose this shape over others? Why are there six handles?
How many different colors appear on this lamp? Why do you think these colors were chosen? What aspects of the decoration on the lamp are particularly beautiful to you, and why?
What is the significance of the mosque lamp to Muslims?
What is the significance of the Light Verse on a lamp?
Why did Muslim rulers commission mosque lamps?
Are there any particular uses of candles or electric lights that have special meaning to you?
Bari, Mohammad Abdel. “The Mosque Lamp: A Poetic Reading into Its Shades and Meanings.” In The Art of Orientation: An Exploration of the Mosque through Objects, edited by Idries Trevathan et al. Munich: Hirmer, 2020. Pp. 175–99.
Carboni, Stefano, and Qamar Adamjee. “Enameled and Gilded Glass from Islamic Lands Metropolitan Museum of Art.” Metropolitan Museum of Art. October 2002. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/enag/hd_enag.htm
