Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Incense burner
Western Han dynasty (206 BCE–9 CE)
Not on view
The openwork on the vessel’s lid allowed fragrant smoke to waft out when incense was burning inside. Whereas in later dynasties charcoal was used to heat incense wood, the practice of the Han period and earlier was to burn fragrant plants, as discovered through specimens found in archaeological excavations. The elite owners of incense burners such as this one would have demanded elaborate craftsmanship and expensive material to demonstrate their wealth and taste. The brilliant gilded surface and magnificent openwork of entwined dragons perfectly answered the request.
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