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Walters Art Museum (Egyptian) · other

Candlestick Base

Source of record: Walters Art Museum (Egyptian) — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

<p>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.</p><p>For the latest information about this object, <cite><a href='https://purl.thewalters.org/art/54.459' rel='external'>Candlestick Base</a></cite>, visit the Online Collection of the Walters Art Museum.</p>

Inscriptions (2)

Inscription #1

English description

[Transcription] Inscribed base and neck: Zayn al-Din Kitbugha;
Inscription #2

English description

[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)

Cross-references (2)

  • Walters-AccNum 54.459 tier-2
  • Walters-id 15804 tier-2
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Walters Art Museum (Egyptian).
  • AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
  • Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
  • Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.