Nepalese Oil Lamp with Kumari, Devi or Goddess Motif

A leafy halo, a small fierce goddess, and a column built to carry them.

This oil lamp with a Kumari, Devi or goddess motif comes from Nepal and is contemporary. It is brass. Goddess worship runs deep in Nepal, in both Hindu and Buddhist practice, and lamps like this one follow the old form of a standing light offered before a deity. A multi-armed figure, touched with red, stands within an arch of pierced leaves. A wide dish and hanging chains sit below her. Serpents wind around the pierced shaft, and the base opens into a ring of lotus petals. Thirty-three inches high and 11 in diameter.

Lit, those pierced petals would have shadows to work with.