A rare Timurid bronze hanging oil lamp Persia or Central Asia, 15th CenturyA rare Timurid bronze hanging oil lamp Persia or Central Asia, 15th Centuryof compressed globular form with everted rim with sixteen vertical flanges each surmounted by a lion head, the rim with three dragon heads with suspension loops linking to chains terminating in an element with six hooks and surmounted by a suspension loop and s-shaped hook, removable bronze insert 17 cm. diam.ProvenanceFormerly in a private Swiss collection, acquired in the 1960s.In shape, the present lot recalls the upper part of the magnificent inlaid bronze lamp in the Hermitage Museum, dated AH 799 /AD 1396-7, signed by 'Izz al- Din ibn Taj al-Din Isfahani, which was originally commissioned for the Shrine of Ahmad Yassavi in Turkestan City by Timur himself (see L. Komaroff, The Golden Disc of Heaven, Metalwork of Timurid Iran, Costa Mesa, 1992, pl.20, 22, and pp. 24-31). Five other standing oil lamps, complete or partial, also survive. Normal Timurid lighting seems to have consisted of tall candlesticks or oil lamps which stood on the floor, and these are commonly shown in Timurid miniature paintings (see ed. T.W.Lentz, and G.D.Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, Washington D.C., 1989, pp.130, no. 258). A very rare example of a hanging lamp is shown in a 15th Century miniature in the Topkapi Museum of a night-time procession (ibid, p.188), though this is a traditionally-shaped oil lamp, with a long spout. Our oil lamp is perhaps more likely to have been an item for the interior lighting of a room in a palatial setting, or a religious building, but it may also have been used for traveling by night. Komaroff has suggested that the standing oil lamps show the impact of Timur's conquests further west, since the form may originate in Saray Berke in southern Russia, while decoratively they reflect Mamluk, Azerbaijani and Iraqi influence. The present lamp, however, raises a very different possibility, namely the impact of India, for the origin of the shape of this hanging lamp is the Indian lota, which occurs both as a smooth form and as a ribbed vessel. An example of the latter, dated to the 14th Century, is published in M. Zebrowski, Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India, London 1997, pl. 348. The ribbed or cusped tradition is found in many other later Indian object types including jugs, bowls, pandans and other types of vessels. Zebrowski links the Timurid oil lamps with the Indian tradition, though Indian examples earlier than 1400 AD do not survive. The present lot is therefore an important piece, confirming the impact of India on Timurid material culture: an Indian form, Persianised by the addition of projecting lion-heads. Timurid material culture was inevitably a synthesis of the cultures of the conquered territories, since Timur always gathered craftsmen from the conquered cities and transported them back to Samarqand, where they were used as slave labour to beautify his capital. Whether this hanging lamp adorned a mosque or a palace, or was used for travelling by night we shall never know, but it takes its place as a unique relic of a great era in Persian and Central Asian history.Important Notice to BuyersSome countries e.g., the US, prohibit or restrict the purchase by its citizens (wherever located) and/or the import of certain types of Iranian-origin works. As a convenience to buyers, Bonhams has marked with the symbol R all lots of Iranian (Persian) origin. It is each buyer's responsibility to ensure that they do not bid or import a lot in contravention of the sanctions or trade embargoes that apply to them.