Ship's Lantern

The lantern is in the form of a gimbal with five concentric rings inside a spherical cage of twisted wire. The lamp mounted in the centre consists of a semispherical container with a 1 cm wide hole in the form of a lotus for the wick and pouring in oil. The gimbal system ensures that the lamp itself always remains horizontal however much the ship tosses. The flat upper surface has engraved decoration consisting of an eight-pointed interlace motif containing small rosettes, surrounded by a border of spiralling rumi motifs on an intaglio ring-matted ground. On the lower surface is a stylised rose motif with six rows of petals surrounded by a broad border of rumi motifs and at the outer edge a band of semicircular interlace motifs. The lamp is attached by rods to protuberances in the form of half-cartouches on the upper edge of the inner ring. Around the outer surface of each ring is engraved decoration consisting of two stylised buds and seven circles. On the inner surface of the outer ring is an engraved inscription in Arabic lettering: ‘The work of Lokuca [Lokuce] Sinan Base [Paşa] Vezir of the Dome [Council of State].’ The outer cage consists of 13 twisted curved vertical wires, which are hinged and fastened by a sliding pin. These are joined to medallions at top and bottom. The openwork medallions have thirteen lobes and engraved and ring-matted decoration in the form of a lobed rosette at the centre surrounded by a broad border of rumi scrollwork circles pierced at the centre, and a narrow band of interlacing semicircles around the edge. Each of the pointed lobes is in shape of a lotus. There are lobes of the same form at the points where the twisted wires join the hoop at the mid-point of the cage. The outer surface of this hoop is decorated with a narrow band of interlacing semicircles, and the inner surface with a border consisting of two rows of leaves springing from a slender stem and linked to the circle in the middle. At the top are two rings for hanging the lantern. At the bottom are two pendant rings, one circular and the other in the form of a palmette with engraved decoration.
Note: The Sinan Paşa who owned the lantern is probably Cağal-oğlu Sinan Paşa, who was of Italian extraction. He was appointed Ottoman high admiral in 1590 and became vezir of the Council of State (grand vezir) in 1594-95. The lantern’s maker Lokuca was a non-Muslim, possibly of Hungarian origin, as suggested by errors in the inscription and the decoration, which differs from that of classical Ottoman style.Reference: Bilgi, H., Reunited after centuries, Works of art restored to Turkey by the Sadberk Hanım Museum, Istanbul, 2005, pp. 89,90.