AN INDIAN COPPER ALLOY DEVOTIONAL VILAKKU OIL LAMP WITH GAJALAKSHMI
India, 19th century

With a flared and stepped cylindrical base with an everted rim acting as a circular tray to gather oil, surmounted by an openwork hemispherical plaque decorated with the Hindu goddess of Wealth and Prosperity, Lakshmi, seated cross-legged and holding her hands in a praying gesture, being bathed by a pair of elephants (Gajalakshmi), encased within a rounded arch with stylised rosette festoon spraying from a kirtimukha mask in the middle and terminating by a pair of regardant peacocks, above the arch a circular hoop with the start of a long interlinked suspension chain, the hook at the top now missing, the lamp 17.5cm high, 101cm high including the suspension chain.

Dimensions: 101cm high including the suspension chain