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Source Description
Throughout Islamic history, sultans, princes, and court officials have been active art patrons. This impressive candlestick base was commissioned by Zayn al-Din Kitbugha, who served as saqi, official cupbearer, at the court of the Mamluks in Egypt before ascending the throne in 1294. The heraldic emblem of Kitbugha’s office, a stemmed cup (inscribed in a circle), features prominently in the candlestick’s decoration. Despite its elaborate design, Kitbugha used the candlestick in his household storeroom or pantry.This base was originally combined with a neck and socket—today in Cairo—which together could bear the weight of a single monumental candle.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
15804
label
Candlestick Base
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
9
Source metadata
id
15804
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Candlestick Base
description
Throughout Islamic history, sultans, princes, and court officials have been active art patrons. This impressive candlestick base was commissioned by Zayn al-Din Kitbugha, who served as saqi, official cupbearer, at the court of the Mamluks in Egypt before ascending the throne in 1294. The heraldic emblem of Kitbugha’s office, a stemmed cup (inscribed in a circle), features prominently in the candlestick’s decoration. Despite its elaborate design, Kitbugha used the candlestick in his household storeroom or pantry.This base was originally combined with a neck and socket—today in Cairo—which together could bear the weight of a single monumental candle.
provenance
Dikran Kelekian, New York and Paris; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1925, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 1290 (Mamluk; Bahri)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Metal
candleholders
candlesticks
imageCount
9
pageCount
9
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
26.5
height
32.5
dimensionsRaw
H: 10 7/16 x Diam: 12 13/16 in. (26.5 x 32.5 cm)
Source extras
cul
Egyptian-Islamic
style
Mamluk
inscriptions
[Transcription] Inscribed base and neck: Zayn al-Din Kitbugha; [Translation] Inscribed base in thuluth script: This is one of the things made for the servery of the lofty authority
the lordly
the great amir
the conqueror
the holy warrior
the just
al-Zayni
Zayn al-Din Kitbugha al-Mansuri al-Ashrafi (of the households of the sultans Qalawun and Khalil)
dynasty
Bahri Dynasty
reign
Zayn al-Din Kitbugha (AD 1294-1296)
med
brass, inlaid with silver, gold, copper
creator_ids
6182
15679
collection_ids
ISL
exhibition_ids
13
209
475
Page inventory
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