A GROUP OF THREE BRONZE OIL LAMPS
This lot is a museum deaccession and is therefore offered without reserve

The largest probably from Borneo or Sulawesi, c. 1900, with a compressed globular body supported on a spreading foot and encircled by an everted rim, both with openworked foliate decoration, the shoulder cast with a band of petals, the tall handle intricately pierced and of abstract zoomorphic form, the long spout with a deep well.

The other two oil lamps from Persia, Khorasan, 11^th-12^th century, the larger with a globular body supported on a tall spreading foot, the shoulder set with the long narrow spout with bud-shaped mouth and deep well as well as a curved handle and two short foliate flanges below a band of foliate scroll, surmounted by a hinged handle of domed form topped by a shaped finial. The smaller with a compressed globular body and upright spout with bud-shaped mouth, flanked by two short handles, the body decorated with foliate and geometric designs. (3)

Provenance: Galerie Hardt (established in 1976), Radevormwald, Germany, before 2020. Acquired by the gallery’s founder Peter Hardt (b. 1946) during his extensive travels in Asia, the first of which occurred during a formative world tour in 1973. Throughout his storied career, Peter Kienzle-Hardt organized countless exhibitions and participated in major international art fairs. He made many important contacts during this time and eventually met the Kienzle siblings, who shared his passion for Asian art and culture. A strong bond and deep friendship developed, ultimately leading to the creation of the Museum für Asiatische Kunst decades later in 2014. While the museum’s permanent exhibition predominantly comprised pieces from the Kienzle Family Collection, Peter Kienzle-Hardt supplemented it with objects from his own collection. Before his death in 2019, Horst Kienzle bequeathed his entire property to Peter and legally adopted him as his son, who has been using the name Peter Kienzle-Hardt ever since.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, traces of use, manufacturing irregularities, obvious losses, minor warping, tiny dents, minuscule nicks. Each with a fine, naturally grown, dark patina with areas of malachite encrustation, the later lamp with minor touchups to the patina.

Weight: 930 g (total)
Dimensions: Size 13 x 18.5 cm (the Southeast Asian lamp), Length 18.5 cm and 9 cm (the Persian lamps)

This lot features two Islamic bronze oil lamps from Khorasan, alongside a third example that subtly diverges from the group and is likely from Borneo or Sulawesi, dating to around 1900. All three share a compact, utilitarian form with rounded bodies and precisely articulated nozzles — evidence of a design vocabulary that traveled widely across the Islamic world. The resemblance between Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian forms is not coincidental, but a reflection of shared religious frameworks and a long history of contact, in which imported models were reimagined through local casting traditions and regional aesthetics. Though distinct in execution, the Southeast Asian lamp reflects the visual and functional continuity of Islamic domestic life across geographies.

From the 9th century onward, the port cities of Maritime Southeast Asia became key nodes in expansive trade networks linking the Islamic world with India, China, and the broader archipelago. While early centers like Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula led this exchange, regions such as Borneo and Sulawesi — both fully Islamized by the 19th century — had by then developed their own material idioms within the Islamic sphere. The third lamp in this group, likely used in a domestic or devotional context, exemplifies how Islamic visual culture was adapted and localized, resulting in objects that are recognizably part of the tradition while also rooted in specific regional identities.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related bronze oil lamp, Iran, Khorasan, dated to the 12^th century, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number M.68-1922. Compare a closely related bronze oil lamp from Brunei, dated c. 1900, in the Asian Civilisations Museum, accession number XXXX-03103.