.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The inscription around the body reads 'Izz li-Mawlana al-Sultan al-Malik al-Nasir Nasir al-Dunya wa al-Din Hassan bin Muhammad 'azza nasruhu ("Glory to our Lord the Sultan the King the Victorious Nasir al-Dunya wa al-Din Hassan bin Muhammad may his Victory be Glorious").
Around the neck are inscribed parts of Qur'an XXIV (sura al-nur), v.34.
This lamp bears striking similarities with a lamp in the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, including an identical inscription around the body, published by Gaston Wiet in 1912 (Gaston Wiet, Catalogue du Musée Arabe du Caire, Lampes et Bouteilles en Verre Émaillé, Cairo, 1992 ed., pl.LIII, cat.326). In the name of Sultan Hasan, it is dated to 1363. It originally came from the madrasa built by the Sultan in Cairo. In his discussion of the group of lamps from the madrasa, Wiet indicates that some were exhibited in London (cat. 278, 299, 304 and 323). Amongst those, lamp n.323 is inscribed with the name of Sultan Hassan which could therefore have been easily copied by a skilled European glass-maker. Wiet gives an extensive bibliography and the Cairo lamp relating to the present example was published in Herz, Catalogue sommaire des monuments exposés dans le Musée national de l'Art Arabe, Le Caire, 1895, 1st edition, p.86, n.74; 2nd edition (Catalogue raisonné), p.320, n.21; Herz, La mosquée du Sultan Hassan, Cairo, 1899, p.12, n.322; Schmoranz, Old Oriental Gilt and Enamelled Glass Vessels, Vienna and London, 1899, p.70, n.74.
Around the neck are inscribed parts of Qur'an XXIV (sura al-nur), v.34.
This lamp bears striking similarities with a lamp in the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, including an identical inscription around the body, published by Gaston Wiet in 1912 (Gaston Wiet, Catalogue du Musée Arabe du Caire, Lampes et Bouteilles en Verre Émaillé, Cairo, 1992 ed., pl.LIII, cat.326). In the name of Sultan Hasan, it is dated to 1363. It originally came from the madrasa built by the Sultan in Cairo. In his discussion of the group of lamps from the madrasa, Wiet indicates that some were exhibited in London (cat. 278, 299, 304 and 323). Amongst those, lamp n.323 is inscribed with the name of Sultan Hassan which could therefore have been easily copied by a skilled European glass-maker. Wiet gives an extensive bibliography and the Cairo lamp relating to the present example was published in Herz, Catalogue sommaire des monuments exposés dans le Musée national de l'Art Arabe, Le Caire, 1895, 1st edition, p.86, n.74; 2nd edition (Catalogue raisonné), p.320, n.21; Herz, La mosquée du Sultan Hassan, Cairo, 1899, p.12, n.322; Schmoranz, Old Oriental Gilt and Enamelled Glass Vessels, Vienna and London, 1899, p.70, n.74.