Bronze Sabbath lamp. India (Cochin?), c. 1900.
A circular Sabbath lamp, with seven spaces for hanging small glass oil cups. The lamp is suspended by four poles with loops at their ends that connect to hooks at the base of the lamp. The cups are made from yellow tinted glass. The middle cup is larger than the rest of the cups.
"Until less than a hundred years ago, Cochin Jews still had the custom of celebrating the inauguration of the Sabbath by lighting stone lamps at the entrance to each home. The synagogue beadle would go from house to house lighting the lamp with a torch kindled from the Ner Tamid that hung before the ark. Simultaneously, the women would kindle the Sabbath lamp. The lamp... was suspended from the ceiling and had seven oil cups fixed in a metal ring".
(The Jews of India – a story of three communities, Orpa Slapak (ed). The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1995, page 91). See attached material.
Height: 136 cm. (including cups). Very good condition. Cups not original.