The tall lampstand, which once supported a smaller oil lamp, is one of several types of lighting devices in the Iranian world. This large and heavy columnar example is a quintessential metal form of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Its surface is covered in floral and vegetal patterns, and the upper section includes verses of Persian poetry in cartouches. These verses concern illumination and include the word for lamp (chiragh), thereby perfectly complementing the object itself. This combination of functionality and literary sophistication was common for utilitarian objects produced in Iran.