Customer Reviews

Flames of Devotion: Oil Lamps from South and Southeast Asia and the Himalayas

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The 77 pictured lamps and burners out of a total of over 100 donated by a collector to the Fowler Museum "offer a glimpse into the complexities of the symbolic and ritual systems that dominate daily life in South Asia." Most of the lamps are from India, with the next largest group from Nepal and Tibet, and a few from the Southeast Asia countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia. The oldest ones comes from these latter countries. The large majority of the lamps and burners are from the 19th and 20th centuries. There is not a marked difference between older and later Hindu and Buddhist ritual objects as to spiritual figures depicted, shapes, and design details. The objects don't change as in the Western concept of "art styles" or "historical period styles" for instance. What differences there are are that the later ones, of the 20th century, have somewhat more complexity, or sophistication, in their detail presumably from advanced tools and the use of advanced, more modern, machinery in the making of them. The author Anderson with a background in architecture and design discusses the cultural background, use, and production of the Asian lamps and burners. Besides the age of the particular objects, photo captions concisely identify figures in them, what is distinctive as applicable, and how they would be used. The knowledge of the Indian collector of the numerous objects making for the exceptional, broad collection makes the work, though limited in subject matter, especially useful as an introduction and guide to the lamps and burners.