Newari Stone Oil Lamp

A dark, bowl-ended slab with a short handle, like a very blunt spoon.

This stone oil lamp is Newari, from Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, and dates to the late 19th or early 20th century. The Newar people are the indigenous inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley, and they are known for their stone carving, metalwork, woodcarving and ritual art. A flat, elongated form with an oval shallow basin at one end and a narrow, rough extension at the other. The surface is blackish-brown, with lumps, pits and crusty patches, and a rounded edge around the hollow. It is 4.25 inches wide, 2 deep and 1 high.

Rough hewn, spoon-adjacent, and happy about it.