Oil Lamp
Also titled Olielamp
c. 1300 - c. 1500
- Medium
- bronze (metal)
- Classification
- lamp
- Dimensions
- height 32.5 cm x width 19.4 cm x depth 19.8 cm
- Museum
- Rijksmuseum
- Credit line
- On loan from the Royal Asian Art Society in The Netherlands (purchase heirs J.A.W. Sieburg, 1950)
- Rights
- Public Domain Mark, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
About this work
Fire, like water, plays an important role in rituals. Oil lamps are often suspended before the effigy of a god, both at home and in a temple. An essential part of a Hindu temple ceremony (puja) is worshipping the god by moving a lamp in front of his or her image. In ancient India, lamps were the most popular gifts to temples, along with cows to supply clarified butter (the fuel).
