Lampstandfirst half of 8th century

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Title: Lampstand
Place Made: Iraq, Iran, or Syria
Date Made: first half of 8th century
Medium: Earthenware, incised, stamped, and glazed
Dimensions: Height: 11 1/4 in. (28.57 cm); Diameter: 6 1/2 in. (16.51 cm)
Credit Line: The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost
Accession Number: M.2002.1.88
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes: As a portable source of light, oil lamps were an important element of daily life across the ancient Mediterranean region. While lamps were made from a variety of materials, such as stone, glass, and metal, ceramic versions were the most ubiquitous, as evidenced by the large numbers uncovered at archaeological sites. Clay provided a cheap and easy means for mass-producing small oil lamps, and numerous examples survive especially from the Late Antique period onward. This pillar-shaped, glazed ceramic lampstand, a rare survival from the eighth century, once supported a smaller oil lamp on its upper surface (see M.2002.1.73). Like the lamp, the stand was portable, allowing for the light source to be elevated at a practical height in a culture where many activities took place on cushions and coverings set on or close to the ground.

2024
Selected Bibliography: Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015.

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Title: Lampstand
Place Made: Iraq, Iran, or Syria
Date Made: first half of 8th century
Medium: Earthenware, incised, stamped, and glazed
Dimensions: Height: 11 1/4 in. (28.57 cm); Diameter: 6 1/2 in. (16.51 cm)
Credit Line: The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost
Accession Number: M.2002.1.88
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes: As a portable source of light, oil lamps were an important element of daily life across the ancient Mediterranean region. While lamps were made from a variety of materials, such as stone, glass, and metal, ceramic versions were the most ubiquitous, as evidenced by the large numbers uncovered at archaeological sites. Clay provided a cheap and easy means for mass-producing small oil lamps, and numerous examples survive especially from the Late Antique period onward. This pillar-shaped, glazed ceramic lampstand, a rare survival from the eighth century, once supported a smaller oil lamp on its upper surface (see M.2002.1.73). Like the lamp, the stand was portable, allowing for the light source to be elevated at a practical height in a culture where many activities took place on cushions and coverings set on or close to the ground.

2024
Selected Bibliography: Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015.