SULTAN QALAWOON

This lamp, originally commissioned for His Excellency Zayd Al Rifai, former Prime Minister of Jordan, was inspired by a brass Mamluki float-wick lamp similar to the prototype for Gulshani, also on display at the Islamic Museum in Cairo. The prototype bears the names of the Mamluk Sultan Muhammad ibn Qalawoon and his son Ahmed.

In the present design, the suspended polycandelon has been transformed into an inverted dome, which can be used as a planter. The upper domical lampshade is perforated and engraved with calligraphic inscriptions in Kufi style of the Names of God, interrupted by floral motifs.

The circular base of the upper dome is engraved in a geometrical arabesque pattern interrupted with nine ribbed knops of cast brass. The underside of the lampshade base is enclosed by translucent glass held in place by a circular etched and pierced brass arabesque.

The dome is surmounted by a finial formed of two pieces. The lower piece is a spun truncated cone upon a slanted circular base. The cone is p erforated and engraved with a band of floral arabesque. A spun knop connects the top of the cone to a cast circular crescent (hilal) fitting.

A hollow cast shaft with a faceted knop over a conical base runs through the center of the crescent to carry electrical wiring to the lamp interior. The shaft also contains a steel rod that connects a suspension hook to a wrought-iron load-bearing skeleton attached to the interior of the lamp dome by three gilt steel hooks extending out from the lower base rim. Suspension arms hang from these hooks to carry the lower dome.

The rim of the lower inverted dome is identical to that of the upper dome with a band of engraved geometrical arabesque interrupted by nine cast ribbed knops. The domical body is engraved with an upper band of calligraphy in Kufi style, of Names of God, interrupted by floral motifs.

A trefoil pattern of sixteen sections ornaments the underside of the inverted dome, which ends in a spun knop.

LGLS-30