Metalwork and Material Culture in the Islamic World by Venetia Porter;Mariam Rosser-Owen; & Mariam Rosser

Author:Venetia Porter;Mariam Rosser-Owen; & Mariam Rosser
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Published: 2019-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

FIG. 16.5 Petralia lampstand: detail of the baluster base. © J. Johns.

However, Scerrato may not have examined the Petralia lampstand in person. Had he done so, he would surely have commented upon its most striking feature – its exceptional size. He did not publish its dimensions, and there is no scale in the figure that accompanies his account of the object. Moreover, although Scerrato remarked that ‘l’interesse principale [of the lampstand] risiede nelle iscrizioni eseguite a traforo’ on its pillar, he did not give a reading of those inscriptions but merely noted that they are ‘di tipo augurale, sebbene impieghino una formula inconsueta che secondo alcuni avrebbe chiari riferimenti cristiani’. This is a curious phrase, which entertains the possibility that the inscriptions contain a Christian reference, disguises the identity of the ‘alcuni’ who believe that it did, and carefully avoids giving a reading and interpretation of the inscription. It was not until 1991–92 that my old friend Monsignor Benedetto Rocco confessed in print that he himself was Scerrato’s source: ‘In questo “alcuni”,’ he wrote, ‘c’è un’allusione ad un colloquio avuto dallo studioso [Scerrato] con lo scrivente, in anni quando studiavo l’epigrafe e ritenevo di averne trovato il senso’.9 My point is that had Scerrato himself examined the inscriptions he would have immediately seen that the text, far from being unusual, is a banal augural formula that carries absolutely no Christian reference.

Since 1984, it has been recognised that the Petralia lampstand is related morphologically to the distinct group of pillar lampstands from al-Andalus that Juan Zozaya has called candelabros arquitectónicos because the form of the pillar evokes architecture.10 The group is characterised by projecting zoomorphic ornament, pillars in the form of an open cage with slender columns, and large baluster-shaped bases. Two complete or nearly complete examples of this type are known. One, in the David Collection, has a tall pricket complete with an openwork tray.11 The pillar is a hexagonal open cage with a domed openwork top supported by six slender columns; six small birds project from the corners of the dome. The columns rest upon a thin hexagonal plate with scalloped sides which sits upon the circular top of the large baluster-shaped base. The upper half of the spheroid boss of the baluster bears an inscription repeating the word baraka (blessing) in Kufic script, punched and chased. The baluster has a wide flaring foot.

The upper part – the pricket and pillar – of the Copenhagen lampstand is remarkably similar to the well-known lampstand that was excavated in the nineteenth century at Elvira (ancient Illiberis, Ar. Madinat Ilbira) and now in the Museo Arqueológico y Etnológico in Granada.12 It too has a hexagonal pillar with domical top from which project six small birds. The pillar is again an open cage, but in this case formed of 12 columns. The pillar rests upon a thin hexagonal plate which was once thought to be the base of the complete lampstand. More recently, after the Copenhagen example came to light, it has been realised that the Elvira lampstand must also originally have had a similar baluster base.

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