Nepalese Oil Lamp with Dragon Motif

Dragons hold up the flame. It seems a fair use of a dragon.

This oil lamp with a dragon motif comes from the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, and is a contemporary work in brass. Lamps of this form belong to the worship of the Himalayan world, where burning oil or butter before an image is an offering of light in both Buddhist and Hindu practice. A wide, beaded lotus bowl sits on a bulbous stem. Scaled dragons curl up from the base to hold it, their heads turned outward. Below them, a domed foot opens into a pierced band. Twenty-one inches high.

They look proud of the job.