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Oil Lamp

1870/1900

Sanskriti Museums

Sanskriti Museums
New Delhi, India

This unique brass oil lamp imbibes into its design the principle of the Tantalus Cup. The lamp is in the form of deepalakshmi or the “goddess of lamp”- a female holding the lamp bowl in her left hand and a bottle of oil in the right. Oil is poured into the hollow body of the female from the opening over her hand which also flows into the bottle in her hand. As the lamp keeps burning the oil, the same quantity of oil keeps dripping from the bottle into the lamp bowl.
The ratio of level of the oil in the bottle and that in the lamp bowl are so adjusted that the lamp bowl remains always full and the oil stops dripping as soon as it reaches the brim of the bowl. The craftsman has skillfully imbibed the device of the Tantalus Cup in the making of this beautiful lamp.

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  • Title: Oil Lamp
  • Date Created: 1870/1900
  • Location: Southern India
  • Physical Dimensions: H 14.5 cm x W 16 cm L 15 cm
  • Rights: Text © Sanskriti Museum of Everyday Art/ Jyotindra Jain
  • Medium: Brass
  • Period: C. Late 19th Century
Sanskriti Museums

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