Sales of Islamic art are rare in France. They are often held in London, where wealthy Middle Easterners live who are likely to buy the finest pieces. It is therefore not surprising that Bonhams offered a 14th century Egyptian mosque lamp in enameled glass at the end of last year. Estimated at between £600,000 and £1 million, it fetched a staggering £5.1 million, becoming the most expensive glass object ever sold at auction. Its owners certainly had no idea of its value since they used it… as a vase.
This lamp, of remarkable rarity, was made for the emir Saif ad-Din Sarghitmish, who died in 1358.
© / Bonhams
This lamp, of remarkable rarity, was made for Emir Saif ad-Din Sarghitmish, who died in 1358, a powerful man under the reign of the Sultan of Egypt An-Nasir Muhammad (1285-1341). It attests to the virtuosity of the glass artisans of the Mamluk court who perfectly mastered the techniques of gilding and polychrome enamel. Mosque lamps paid homage, like stained glass windows in Western cathedrals, to the divine dimension of light.
The one sold by Bonhams bears the inscription of a verse from the Koran as well as the name of the emir and that of the sultan. According to experts, it was probably hung in a mosque that still exists today in Cairo’s medieval quarter. This shows that an old object, reduced to a utilitarian function in a modern interior, can turn out to be an artistic treasure!