BRONZE HANGING LAMP.

NORTHERN VIETNAM.

DONG SON CULTURE.

1ST - 2ND CENTURY AD.

H. 21.5 CMS, 8 ˝ INS .

L. 25.5 CMS, 10 INS.

An exceptionally rare and important bronze lamp comprising a semi-naked human figure with arms outstretched and holding a straight sided bowl (the receptacle for the oil and wick), suspended by three chains from a domed cover surmounted by a phoenix, all supported by a single chain ending in an S shaped suspension hook.

For more on the Dong Son culture see cat. no. 1.

The two front chains that support this lamp are shorter than the rear one and, when suspended, the figure inclines downwards. This detail, together with the movement of the legs, suggests that the figure is depicted flying down from the after-world to rescue the human soul.

Examples of such lamps are few and far between – two of the best-known are the celebrated kneeling lamp-bearer of Lach Truong (see no. 4, Page 18 in Phan Cam Thuong, Ancient Sculpture of Vietnam, Fine Arts Publishing House, 1997) and a strikingly similar, Han dynasty example found in Changsha, Hunan, China (see fig. 98 in Jonathan Tucker, The Silk Road: Art and History, London: Philip Wilson Publishers, 2003). A third lamp was previously offered for sale at Spink and Son Ltd and is now in a private collection - see fig. 99 in Jonathan Tucker, ibid. This lamp is also illustrated as fig. 2 in Pratapaditya Pal, Asian Art at the Norton Simon Museum, Volume 3: Art from Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, 2004. The similarities between these lamps suggest that during the Chinese occupation of the area the process of cultural exchange was both continuous and widespread.

PROVENANCE: Private English collection.