A large gilt-copper (tombak) candlestick, commissioned by a courtier of Suleyman the Magnificent, Turkey, Ottoman, dated Dhu'l-Hijja 945 AH/May 1539 AD

Ex-private collection, Bulgaria, acquired in Aden, circa 1960s

Ex-private collection, Poland, 1997

Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2007

inscriptions

waqf-e rawzeh-ye hazrat-e sultan al-anbiya 'ala sakinuha afzal al-thanaya waqafahu al-'abd al-muhtaj usta ibrahim sar-i [sic] qazghaniyan bandheh-ye Sultan Suleyman Khan tarikh-e sana 945 fi awasit dhu'l hijja dha'lhajj (sic) [Dhi'l-hajjah] ghafara allah lahu 

‘Endowment to the tomb of His Holiness the Sultan of Prophets, may there be the best of praises upon its resident. The needy servant (of God) Usta Ibrahim the head cauldron maker, the servant of Sultan Suleyman Khan endowed it in the year 945 in the middle of Dhu’l-Hijja (May 1539), may God have mercy on him.’

This impressive tombak candlestick is a pair to a candlestick in the David Collection, Copenhagen (inv. no.18/2009, Christie’s, London, 6 October 2009, lot 210). The elegant, thuluth inscription bears the name of Suleyman the Magnificent, endowed by a certain Usta Ibrahim in his service to the “tomb of His Holiness the Sultan of Prophets.” This most likely refers to the Prophet Muhammad and thus its donation to the Prophet’s Mosque, Medina.

Simply adorned candlesticks of this large scale were produced in pairs to flank the mihrab of Ottoman mosques and religious sites in the sixteenth century. This candlestick, and its pair, display a typical profile with a flared conical base, a straight shoulder with drip tray, a straight shaft, and conical socket. A pair of candlesticks in the Khalili collection measuring 70.5cm. show a comparable form, although the flared base is somewhat more pronounced (inv. no.MTW 937A and B, Spink 2022, p.957-8, no.622). The construction is similar with the body and neck made in two parts and joined at the base of the neck. As is typical of the group, the imposing form is uninterrupted by decoration. The present example retains considerably more gilding than its counterpart and one can better appreciate its commanding presence. Importantly, the candlestick bears an inscription around its base written in a particularly freely formed thuluth. In both candlesticks, the script displays expressive flourishes to the terminal letters.

The inscription states that the candlestick was endowed by Usta Ibrahim, the head cauldron maker in the service of Suleyman the Magnificent, donated to the "tomb of the sultan of all prophets" in Dhu’l-Hijjah 945 AH/May 1539 AD. By this time, Mecca and Medina were under Ottoman rule. Selim I consolidated the Ottoman expansion, incorporating Syria, Palestine, Egypt and the Hijaz into his empire and becoming guardian of the holy sites of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. Suleyman I would go on to inherit this vast empire before expanding it in his own right.

A pair of candlesticks of comparable form are in the turbe of Sulyeman the Magnificent (Raby and Allan 1982, p.46, no.33). A further pair were commissioned by Suleyman Pasha, an Ottoman vizier, in 947 AH/1540 AD and are now held in the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo (Wiet 1932, pp.118-120, nos.4395 and 4396, pl.XXXV).