A Mamluk Glass Oil Lamp.

 

 

Ali ibn Muhammad al-Barmaki of Cairo, Egypt.

The lamp is blown glass, polychrome, enamel, and gold, with a diameter of 9 3⁄8︎ (23.89 cm), a height of 14︎ (35.56 cm). The Mamluk Glass Oil Lamp dates back to 1329–35 CE. The lamp was commissioned in large numbers for many mosques built in Cairo by the Mamulk Sultans and their amirs. The lamp is inscribed with the verses from the Quer’an:
‘God is the light of the heavens and the earth;
the likeness of his light is as a niche wherein is a lamp
(the lamp in a glass,
the glass as it were a glittering star)
kindled from a Blessed Tree,
an olive that is neither of the East nor of the West
whose oil wellnigh would shine, even if no fire touched it’. 
Has a round bulbous body rising to a narrow waist and a flared top section. Many of these lamps survived making them highly prized pieces.

It is commonly said that the glassmakers mastered a procedure where they applied all the colors at once and fixed them during a single firing in the kiln without having the colors mix with each other. The lamps were used to light mosques and other buildings in large spaces in groups hanging from a circular metal frame. As pictured here:

 

 

Canteen with Christian and Islamic motifs

 

 

This canteen dates back to the mid-thirteenth century. It is made of seven brass  sections and has a diameter of 14 ½”.  It weighs 11 empty and when full of water it can weigh up to 66 pounds. Although it has handles it is not portable,  because it is highly decorative and also has a filtered strainer at the mouth to pour out.

It’s shape originates from pre-Islamic times, and its distinctive style and decoration confirms it was made in the thirteenth century in Syria.

The canteen is of a Mosul style of metalwork which was named for the northern Iraqi city. This city was a leading center for metal production and home to a large Christian population living under Muslim rule.

The canteen was made because a Christian man asked those of the Islamic decent to create one for him. This is the reasoning for the large number of Christian scenes that are represented. It consisted of three scenes of the  life of Christ  which surrounded the medallion:

The Nativity, The Presentation in the Temple from the infancy narratives, and Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem.

Outside of the scenes, the canteen contained a band that went around the diameter. As pictured here below. The middle band contained an inscription which is illegible,  for the letters have been transformed into revelers.

 

Here in the second picture is its central image of Madonna and child enthroned.

The images are flattened and somewhat elongated to conform to the shape in which they are placed

 

 

Medallion Rug

               This is the Medallion Rug of Variant Star Ushak style. It dates back to the 16th century CE in the Ottoman period. From Anatolia (modern Turkey). It is made of Wool, and has a size of 10︎ 3︎ ✕ 7︎ 61⁄4︎ (3.13 ✕ 2.29 m).

It is flat weaved which is known as Turkish kilims. The rugs are characterized by bold geometric patterns, typically woven in wool. In between the geometric patterns in blue, there are yellow flowers. The paradisiac theme from the Koran is shown here as flowers are known to be found in gardens.  The rug is an example of lit tapestry. Tapestry was a piece of thick textile fabric with pictures and designs which was formed by weaving colored weft threads. In other words, this meant crossing threads over and under each other. This carpet is known as the Star of Ushak, from the star shape of the medallion and the other weaved patterns.