Admission is Free | Open Wed–Sun
BACK TO COLLECTION
X2001.11.23a-t Oil lamp
Object Name: Oil lamp
Place of Origin: Andhra Pradesh, India
Date/Era: 18th century
Dimensions: H: 68.00 cm, W: 26.50 cm, D: 24.00 cm
Medium/Materials: Bronze
Credit Line: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Gift of the Pal Family.
Accession Number: X2001.11.23a-t
A magnificent tree of life rides on the back of an elephant. On closer inspection, the entire ”tree” can be seen as a ramification of a female figure with her feet and lower body on the elephant’s back and her head at the top of the lamp. This lamp distills the Indian idea of the goddess Devi as an expression of the divine female principle and bearer of life.
Source: Exhibition wall text, Flames of Devotion: Oil Lamps from South and Southeast Asia and the Himalayas.
See also: Marla C. Berns, World Arts, Local Lives: The Collections of the Fowler Museum at UCLA. Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, 2014.
