Photograph: Brass hanging lamp with six spouts for wicks at the bottom. Hanging underneath is a small drip pan.
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Hanging lamp

Date: 1100s

The lamp consists of a container for oil with six spouts to hold wicks, and an openwork 'tower' with decoration including three lions. A small dish hangs underneath to catch oil drips. This lamp is similar to the traditional shape of a Jewish 'Sabbath lamp' that is lit in Jewish homes on Friday evenings and on the eve of festivals. A number of medieval lamps of this type have been found in England - all in towns that had Jewish communities before 1290 - and elsewhere in Europe. It is not certain that they are all Jewish - similar lamps may also have been used in Christian buildings.

Accession number: 1374

Place of collection: St Martin's-le-Grand, St Paul's, London EC4 [City of London] [1870]

Material: copper alloy; brass

Measurements: H 310 mm; W 180 mm

Gallery location: Case 10.4

Related material

Subjects:

Jews

Objects:
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