This item has been added to the Database within the Explore Islamic Art Collections project. Information is available in:English, Arabic.

Name of Object:

Candlestick

Location:

Los Angeles, United States of America

Holding Museum:

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

 About Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles

Date of Object:

Hegira c. 742–746 / AD c. 1342–46

Museum Inventory Number:

M.2002.1.6

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Brass, originally inlaid with silver and gold

Dimensions:

40 x 36.2cm

Period / Dynasty:

Mamluk

Provenance:

Egypt or Syria

Description:

Bold calligraphic bands of thuluth became the main decorative element on Mamluk metalwork in the 8th/14th century, as is evident on this brass candlestick once inlaid with silver and gold, which is circumscribed by a prominent inscriptional band divided into two sections by a pair of large medallions bearing a smaller radial inscription. The inscribed texts supply the name and titles of the Mamluk Sultan, al-Salih ‘Imad al-Din Isma‘il (Hegira 743–746 / AD 1342–45).

How date and origin were established:

Inscribed in the name of the Mamluk Sultan, al-Salih ‘Imad al-Din Isma‘il (Hegira 743–746 / AD 1342–45).

How Object was obtained:

Collection of F. R. Martin (1868-1933), Sweden, until unknown date. Collection of Emile Tabbagh (died 1936), Paris and New York, until 1936 (sale, New York, Anderson Galleries, January 3, 1936). Collection of the McCollough Hall Historical Museum, Morristown, New Jersey, until 1978 (sale, New York, Sotheby Parke Bernet, May 13, 1978). Collection of Maan Z. Madina (1926-2013), New York, until 2002 (sold to); LACMA, The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost.

How provenance was established:

The candlestick is inscribed with the name of titles of the Mamluk ruler of Egypt and Syria.

Selected bibliography:

Komaroff, Linda, Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Rev. ed., Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 2005: 40.
Komaroff, Linda, Lo Terrenal y lo divino: Arte islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles, Santiago, Chile: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015: 100.
Komaroff, Linda, Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016: 74.
Tabbagh, Emile and Hyam, Leslie A., Collection of Near Eastern and Early Mediterranean Art: Ceramics, Miniatures, Oriental Rugs, Ancient Glass; Property of the Estate of the Late Emile Tabbagh, New York: American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, 1936: 36.

Citation of this web page:

LACMA Staff "Candlestick" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;us;Mus21;20;en

Prepared by: LACMA Staff


MWNF Working Number: US1 20