Indian Oil Lamp with Lakshmi Motif

Bright gold on top, murky green below, and a lamp that clearly got around.

This brass, copper and alloy oil lamp with a Lakshmi motif is from Karnataka, South India, and dates to the 20th century. Gaja Lakshmi lamps, which show the goddess flanked by elephants, are a well-known form in South India, though styles of the figure vary by region. Pictured is a tall radiant arch with a bold crest shelters a seated figure between small flanking forms. Under it a band of round medallions sits above a bowl on a deep, waisted base. The surface is patchy with green and gold, with a ragged lower edge. It is 3.25 inches wide, 3.5 deep and 5.25 high.

Patchy, proud and happily past any polishing rag.