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Collections

Oil Lamp11th-13th century

Not on view
Small ceramic pig-form vessel with deteriorated green lead glaze, open mouth spout, and a tiny sculptural figure on the back
Ceramic vessel in the form of an animal head, viewed from above, with a large open cavity, pointed snout, and small applied ear or handle details; matte olive-green glaze with areas of wear and earthen deposits.
Two small ceramic oil lamps with animal-form spouts: left, a quadruped figure with degraded green glaze; right, a fish-shaped lamp with molded scale patterns and pale yellow glaze, shown in profile.
Ceramic vessel in the form of a walking pig with an open mouth and a small bird figure perched on its back, covered in mottled green and ochre lead glaze with age-worn patches.
Two small ceramic oil lamps with zoomorphic forms: a four-legged animal figure with open mouth spout and degraded green glaze, and a fish-shaped lamp with molded scale patterns and pale yellow glaze, both shown on white background.

Unknown, Oil Lamp, 11th-13th century, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

Title
Oil Lamp
Place Made
Egypt
Date Made
11th-13th century
Medium
Earthenware, applied decoration, cut and glazed
Dimensions
2 1/4 x 3 3/4 in. (5.71 x 9.52 cm)
Credit Line
The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost
Accession Number
M.2002.1.48
Classification
Ceramics
Collecting Area
Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes

Clay provided a cheap and easy means for mass-producing small oil lamps, and numerous examples survive from the late Roman period onward. Some such utilitarian lamps were playfully transformed into animals, like this quadruped, which may be a rat or a pig.

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.

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