Magic Lamp – 1 Wish Remaining
Last weekend while cleaning out my parents’ attic I came across this antique lamp and teapot in a box of my grandparents’ old stuff. The condition is not great, but would look good on any mantelpiece or as part of a curiosity cabinet.
Both belonged to my grandfather. He was an archaeologist, ending his career as Professor Emeritus in McGill University’s Anthropology Department. In his younger days, he excavated the ruins of Babylon, in Iraq, and was an avid collector of antiques from all over that region. It grew from his research on the development of Mesopotamian metallurgy and spiritualism during the First Dynasty. Also, as was common at the time, he would keep things he found during his excavations that were not part of the dig. But, I can’t tell how old this is. After all, that was his job.
For both, their provenance is unknown and neither has been appraised.
The teapot measures 16 cm long by 13 cm high, and there is an Arabic inscription on the bottom. The hinge works well.
The lamp, or incense holder, is 13 cm long and 6 cm high. The cap has no hinge and is generally in good condition. There was also a note tucked inside it that stated, “One wish left. Use wisely.” We think it is my grandfather’s writing, but it’s a little too blurry to be sure.
When my sister and I were younger our he would tell us tales about how the past was so different, that ‘magic’ was all around us if we only knew how to look for it, and how he knew his luck would never run out. He would read 1001 Arabian Nights to us as a bedtime story, always saying these were not just stories, and that he’d met some of the characters.
If you’d like the teapot, lamp, and the wish, contact me by email.
Serious offers only.
Both belonged to my grandfather. He was an archaeologist, ending his career as Professor Emeritus in McGill University’s Anthropology Department. In his younger days, he excavated the ruins of Babylon, in Iraq, and was an avid collector of antiques from all over that region. It grew from his research on the development of Mesopotamian metallurgy and spiritualism during the First Dynasty. Also, as was common at the time, he would keep things he found during his excavations that were not part of the dig. But, I can’t tell how old this is. After all, that was his job.
For both, their provenance is unknown and neither has been appraised.
The teapot measures 16 cm long by 13 cm high, and there is an Arabic inscription on the bottom. The hinge works well.
The lamp, or incense holder, is 13 cm long and 6 cm high. The cap has no hinge and is generally in good condition. There was also a note tucked inside it that stated, “One wish left. Use wisely.” We think it is my grandfather’s writing, but it’s a little too blurry to be sure.
When my sister and I were younger our he would tell us tales about how the past was so different, that ‘magic’ was all around us if we only knew how to look for it, and how he knew his luck would never run out. He would read 1001 Arabian Nights to us as a bedtime story, always saying these were not just stories, and that he’d met some of the characters.
If you’d like the teapot, lamp, and the wish, contact me by email.
Serious offers only.
Originally posted April 1, 2016. 'Nuff said.
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