Mamluk Glass Lamps

Timeline

1. c. 1250–1300Cairo · EgyptIn the early Mamluk period, craftsmen inherited Ayyubid and Fatimid glass traditions, blowing transparent glass bodies and applying enamel paint and gold-leaf decoration to produce hanging lamps and vessels commissioned for newly built mosques and religious endowments.
2. c. 1360–1370Cairo · EgyptMosques and Sufi lodges sponsored by Sha'ban and contemporary emirs continued to commission large glass lamps, with inscriptions on the bodies recording donors' names and Quranic verses; Cairo workshops reached a peak of output and skill in the Bahri era.
3. c. 1380–1500Syria · SyriaGlass lamps of the Burji Mamluk period took more elaborate forms, with blue, white, and red enamel combined with gold decoration becoming a model; after the 16th century workshops declined, and many fine pieces dispersed through trade and archaeology into European museum collections.