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Ottoman Mosque Lamp (Iznik, c. 1549 CE)

Mosque lamp, Iznik ware (fritware), cobalt-blue-and-white glaze, with Arabic inscriptions, c. 1549 CE. Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Acc. 131-1885). One of the finest surviving Iznik blue-and-white mosque lamps, probably made for the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, during Suleiman I's restoration program.

Scholarly Significance

Anchor Iznik mosque lamp production with the V&A mosque lamp of c.1549 — one of the finest surviving Iznik blue-and-white lamps.

Notes

  • ·The lamp is an elongated bottle-shaped vessel (typical of the mosque lamp form derived from earlier glass mosque lamps) with a flared rim, two rows of suspension holes, and a ring foot.
  • ·The decoration is in cobalt blue on a bright white ground: large lotus palmettes alternating with cloud-scroll bands; the neck is inscribed with Quranic verse 24:35 (Ayat al-Nur, the 'Light verse'): 'Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth; His light is like a niche in which is a lamp...' — the canonical inscription for mosque lamps.
  • ·An inscribed dedication identifies it as made for the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, during Suleiman I's major restoration and retiling program (c.1545–1551). If this identification is correct, it is one of approximately 40 such lamps produced.
  • ·The lamp represents the peak of the blue-and-white phase of Iznik production (c.1520–1555) before the introduction of additional colors.
  • ·Iznik mosque lamps were luxury commissions; far fewer survive than tiles. The V&A holds one of the best-preserved examples.