An Indian bronze oil lamp, Deccan, 15th-17th century

of baluster form composed of four sections, the stepped splayed base with bulbous shaft narrowing to a ring moulded and faceted neck terminating in a broad circular cup with an arcaded base and five radial protrusions and one central candela, decorated with alternating engraved bands of hatching, floral scroll and palmette arcades

inscriptions

waqafa / kazim

'Kazim endowed [this]'.

Known as a chiraghdan these oil lamps were often gifted by pious sultans to tombs of important Sufi shaykhs. The most important Indian chiraghdan is at the shrine tomb of Shaykh Muin ud din Chishti at Ajmer. It is said that the lamp was donated to the shrine by Akbar on his triumphant return from the conquest of Bengal in 1576. Like the current example it has an oil container with radial projections for wicks, a distinctive Indian feature. Only a small group of Indian chiraghdans are recorded and like the present example possess the same ridged discs to the shaft. Zebrowski identifies these bulging discs as a miniature version of an Indian architectural element known as a kumbha that are often found on Sultanate and Mughal ewers. The large bulbous section above the base is reminiscent of earlier oil lamps such as one made for Timur in 1397 for the shrine of Shaykh Ahmad Yasavi in Turkestan. (Zebrowski 1997, pp.111-115).

What is interesting is that the inscription of the current lot relates to the waqf of Musa al Kazim found on a early sixteenth century bronze oil lamp published by Zebrowski (ibid. no.125). According to Zebrowski there are a large group of pillar candlesticks that have similar inscriptions connecting them to the shrine of Kazimain in Baghdad. The Shia shrines of Iran and Iraq are important repositories of Mughal, Sultanate and Deccani metalwork, that were donated to the shrines by the Shia Sultans of the Deccan, (ibid. p.119, note 6).