Lampstand

Object Details

• Patron

  Ruhallah

• Description

  This elegant Mashal or lampstand in brass is engraved with an allover design of arabesque in intertwined split-palmettes arranged in horizontal registers. The shaft is divided into five panels each separated by a raised circular band. Each of the panels is shaped in twelve vertical facets. Elegant nasta'liq in Persian adorns the top and base sections. The owner's name Ruhu'alla is incorporated in one of the calligraphic registers around the base. The engraved decoration is inlaid in a black composition.

• Inscriptions

  An inscription encircles the top and a second one appears around the base. Each band is divided into four cartouches and is written in nasta'liq. The upper verses are from the 427th ghazal (poem with a minimum of five couplets) of the celebrated poet Hafez of Shiraz (d. 1393), which read as follows:

  The candle is like a moth heading for your light /

  Ecstatic for your state, my senses have taken flight

  Happily the candle lost its light to a breeze /

  As if a moth reached your candle's light

  The lower inscription also refers to light and maintains:

  All night I burn love instead of light/

  ....my disappointed is not surprising

  It is from a candle that was dark next to the light/

  The owner of this light, Ruhallah

  The owner of this light, Ruhallah

• Provenance

  Early 20th century

  Unidentified American diplomat, collected in Persia [1]

  To 2013

  Private collection, Santa Cruz, California, through inheritance from an unidentified American diplomat

  2013

  Sale, Scotts Valley, California, Robert Slawinski Auctioneers, Inc., February 17, 2013, lot 100

  From 2013 to 2019

  Shariar M. Ghassemi of Art Passages, San Francisco, purchased at auction, Robert Slawinski Auctioneers, Inc., Scotts Valley, California, February 17, 2013, lot no. 100 [2]

  From 2019

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Shariar M. Ghassemi of Art Passages, San Francisco, California

  Notes:

  [1] See Invoice from Art Passages, object file, Collections Management Office. See also email from Shariar Ghassemi dated May 24, 2019, copy in object file, Collections Management Office.

  [2] See note 1.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Engaging the Senses (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Unidentified

  Robert Slawinski Auctioneers

  Shariar M. Ghassemi

• Origin

  Iran

• Credit Line

  Purchase – In memory of Dr. Djamchid Darvich-Kodjouri and Mrs. Charlotte Darvich-Kodjouri

• Type

  Furniture and Furnishing

• On View

  Freer Gallery 04: Engaging the Senses

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1500s, 1610s, 1600s, 1590s, 1540s, 1650s, 1530s, 1640s, 1630s, 1520s, 1510s, 1620s, 1580s, 1730s, 1690s, 1570s, 1680s, 1560s, 1670s, 1550s, 1660s

• Name

  Robert Slawinski Auctioneers, Ghassemi, Shariar M.

• Topic

  S?afavid dynasty, 1501-1736, Art, Inlay (process), Brass (alloy), Arts of the Islamic World, Metal-work

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Usage Flag

  Unidentified

• Object Type

  Furniture, Furnishings

• On View

  Yes