Lamp in the Shape of a Deer in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2017

Lamp in the Shape of a Deer

Object Details

Period: Western Han dynasty (206 B.C.–A.D. 9)

Culture: China

Medium: Gilt bronze

Dimensions: H. 17 11/16 in. (45 cm); Diam. of lamp 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm)

Classification: Metalwork

Credit Line: Lent by Nanjing Museum


One of a pair, this lamp was excavated from the area of a princely tomb that housed bathroom utensils. Judging by its long neck and mane, this deer probably represents the mi species, or Père David’s deer, which populated northern China in antiquity but has since gone extinct. The tray would have been filled with an animal- or plant-based fuel, and a hemp stem was plugged onto each of the three spikes, to be lit as a wick. Two lumps of beeswax were found together with this lamp, providing evidence of its use as lighting fuel in the Han dynasty.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/640902