289 - BRONZE OILLAMP NEPAL 18 CENTURY

BRONZE OILLAMP NEPAL 18 CENTURY Dimensions: Height 9 cm Wide 8 cm Depth 5 cm Weight: 250 grams A small Nepalese bronze lamp with two shallow, flared bowls raised on short stems above a rectangular plinth. A pointed finial rises between the cups, while the lower section is animated by pierced openings and scrolling foliate relief. Traces of reddish colour remain among the ornament, contrasting with the worn golden metal and darkened recesses. The offering of light has an important place in both Buddhist and Hindu ritual life in the Kathmandu Valley. Small lamps could be set before sacred images, their flames serving as visible acts of reverence and as symbols of wisdom overcoming ignorance. Even at this intimate scale, ritual implements were often given the same decorative care as larger sacred bronzes. The paired vessels and compact architectural base make this eighteenth-century example particularly engaging. Its carefully balanced arrangement allows two flames to become part of a single devotional composition.