A Fatimid cast brass lamp stand, Egypt, 11th/12th century

cast in sections with a domed tripod base supported on three faceted legs with square-pad zoomorphic feet, a central cylindrical shaft with bulbous and concave sections, surmounted by a flat tray with moulded rim

pitting and patination consistant with age, areas of verdigris particularly on the underside of the tray and small areas of corrosion resulting in minor splitting, as viewed
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Similar lampstands are to be found in the British Museum (see Ward, R., Islamic Metalwork, London, 1993, p.63, fig.46), and the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo (inv. no.8483; see Wiet 1932, p.140, pl.XXV; and Schätze der Kalifen. Islamische Kunst zur Fatimidenzeit, Vienna, 1998, no.190, pp.201 and 203); the latter signed by the craftsman Ibn al-Makki.

The bold sculptural form and plain decoration found on all three lampstands typifies the simplicity and functionality of Fatimid metalwork, in contrast to the more decorated character of other wares of the period, such as lustre pottery. Ward writes: "The best brass objects are those which could not be made in pottery - lampstands, incense burners, large ewers, buckets and furniture" (op. cit., p.64).

The lightly squat form is based on Byzantine models though, as Ward observes, the pre-Islamic pricket design was replaced in the Fatimid period by a flat tray. This development correlates with the decline in production of brass oil lamps which by the 10th/12th century had been supplanted for the most part by cheaper, mass-produced pottery lamps, thus rendering the pricket functionally redundant (ibid., p.64).