Candlestick

Like many comparable candlesticks (or torchstands) created in Safavid Iran (1501-1722), the surface of this example is covered in calligraphy in a cursive script. The Persian verses are drawn from a well-known poem by Sa‘di (d. 1291) and complement the object itself: “I remember one night when sleep did not come to my eyes, I heard a moth say to the candle, ‘I am a lover. If I burn, it is appropriate. Why do you weep and burn so?” Here, the moth and candle operate within a spiritual metaphor concerning the lover’s quest for the beloved, a common theme of Sufism (a mystical branch of Islam). Most Safavid candlesticks of this type are inscribed with Sufic metaphors.