Nepalese Oil Lamp Depicting Kneeling Female Figure

Hands pressed together, she holds still for the flame.

Nepalese metalworkers cast this bronze oil lamp in the form of a kneeling female figure in the 20th century. Lamps of this kind are commonly used in Hindu and Buddhist shrines, where light is offered to the deity. The figure kneels with palms joined in greeting, wearing a necklace and a banded skirt. She sits on a stepped lotus-petal platform, with a small oil dish in front of her knees. The bronze is golden and worn smooth, set on a dark wooden base.

About eight inches high. A devotional pose that suits a shelf.