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Lot Essay
Inscriptions:
Aound the neck and base, Qur'an XXIV, (sura al-nur), v.35.
In the roundels, al-'izz li-mawlana al-khadiw 'abbas hilmi al-thani adama allah ayyamahu (Glory to our Lord the Khediv 'Abbas Hilmi the Second, may God prolong his days').
This mosque lamp bears the name of 'Abbas Hilmi II, the great great grandson of Muhammad 'Ali, who was Khedive of Egypt between 8 January 1892 and 19 December 1914. Other mosque lamps bear the same date, the name of 'Abbas Hilmi Pasha and similar colour scheme in the enamels (Sotheby's, 7 October 2009, lot 243 and Christie’s, 11 October 2013, lot 709). Other lamps of the same type but with an inverted colour scheme around the mouth were sold at Christie’s, 31 March 2009, lot 165; 13 April 2010, lot 326 and 5 October 2010, lot 401.
It is tempting to suggest that these mosque lamps were made for the Mosque of Al-Rifa'i on which work began in 1869. The first stage of construction came to a halt after the abdication of the Khedive Isma'il in 1880 but was resumed in 1905 under 'Abbas HIlmi II who handed the task of completion of the monument to Max Herz Bey, the Hungarian architect in charge of the Committee for the Conservation of Arab Monuments in Cairo. It was completed in 1912, soon after the date found on this mosque lamp.
Aound the neck and base, Qur'an XXIV, (sura al-nur), v.35.
In the roundels, al-'izz li-mawlana al-khadiw 'abbas hilmi al-thani adama allah ayyamahu (Glory to our Lord the Khediv 'Abbas Hilmi the Second, may God prolong his days').
This mosque lamp bears the name of 'Abbas Hilmi II, the great great grandson of Muhammad 'Ali, who was Khedive of Egypt between 8 January 1892 and 19 December 1914. Other mosque lamps bear the same date, the name of 'Abbas Hilmi Pasha and similar colour scheme in the enamels (Sotheby's, 7 October 2009, lot 243 and Christie’s, 11 October 2013, lot 709). Other lamps of the same type but with an inverted colour scheme around the mouth were sold at Christie’s, 31 March 2009, lot 165; 13 April 2010, lot 326 and 5 October 2010, lot 401.
It is tempting to suggest that these mosque lamps were made for the Mosque of Al-Rifa'i on which work began in 1869. The first stage of construction came to a halt after the abdication of the Khedive Isma'il in 1880 but was resumed in 1905 under 'Abbas HIlmi II who handed the task of completion of the monument to Max Herz Bey, the Hungarian architect in charge of the Committee for the Conservation of Arab Monuments in Cairo. It was completed in 1912, soon after the date found on this mosque lamp.