SHARIFA

The development of the baroque lamp coincided with a revival in mosque decoration influenced by a synthesis of Ottoman and Italian architectural influences, beginning in the late 18th century, which was sustained in the 19th century by the Khedive Muhammad Ali. The design of the baroque lamp reflected the profile of western baroque church lamps and was the first new lamp form to appear since the Mamluk period.

The lamp shown here evolved from a section of an antique baroque lamp the artist was given by an architect and collector. To complete her design she turned for inspiration to a fine 18th-century baroque lamp in the Center for Middle East Studies at Harvard University.

Above and below the body are octagonal rings of incised window frames set between incised circular trays separated by cast and lathed ornamental posts. The upper window frames are surmounted by a large engraved and perforated dome, narrowing into a neck that flares into a small heptagonal ring of incised window frames replicating the lower window assemblies on the main body of the lamp. A double dome ending in a crescent (hilal) surmounts the entire lamp. The underside of the main body is formed of an engraved and pierced dome with an opening for a single large glass qandil.

LMAM-96