Incense Burner

Incense Burner

The use of incense in the Muslim world does not have the religious connotation found in the lithurgy of the Christian church, however, burning incense was a sign of sophistication and wealth. Thus incense burners are found in most parts of the Muslim world and from different periods. Zoomorphic incense burners represent another type of censer (see MET no. 67.178.3a,b, cat. no. 75 in this volume for the square type). The present one is in the shape of a bird, a popular form during this period in Iran, Egypt, and Spain. It is made of cast bronze with pierced and engraved decoration. It stands on two legs and a small support beneath the end of the tail. The hollow eye-sockets are surrounded by rounded molding and the rectangular opening on the chest is bordered with angular molding. The chest, the neck, the wings, and the back have pierced decoration. The neck and the chest are adorned with a band of open-work palmette scroll. The wings are decorated with quadripartite interlaces enclosed in a medallion. A triangular area on the back consists of an open-work palmette with a plain border on one side bearing a Kufic script which may include the signature of the artist who remains nonetheless anonymous because the only recognizable words are: "the work of.....". The band of engraved alternating fan pattern runs from the beak of the bird along the top of the head, then it biforcates and surrounds the neck. A similar pattern covers the wings. The rectangular opening on the front is flanked by two engraved circular motifs.

[Abdallah Kahil in [Walker et al. 1994]

Signature: Possibly by the artist, in undecipherable Arabic Kufic script.

[Francesca Leoni, Fellow, 11-29-2007]: the inscription consists of two words, al-tamma (completeness) and sa'ada (happiness).

[ Mehdi Mahboubian, New York, until 1972; sold to MMA]

Mexico City. Colegio de San Ildefonso. "Arte Islámico del Museo Metropolitano de Arte de Nueva York," September 30, 1994–January 8, 1995, no. 77.

New York. Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture. "Lions, Dragons, and Other Beasts: Aquamanilia of the Middle Ages. Vessels for Church and Table," July 12, 2006–October 15, 2006, no. 38.

Baer, Eva. Metalwork in Medieval Islamic Art. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1983. pp. 58–59, ill. fig. 42 (b/w).

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Daniel S. Walker, Arturo Ponce Guadián, Sussan Babaie, Stefano Carboni, Aimee Froom, Marie Lukens Swietochowski, Tomoko Masuya, Annie Christine Daskalakis-Matthews, Abdallah Kahil, and Rochelle Kessler. "Colegio de San Ildefonso, Septiembre de 1994–Enero de 1995." In Arte Islámico del Museo Metropolitano de Arte de Nueva York. Mexico City: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 1994. no. 77, pp. 198–99, ill. (b/w).

Barnet, Peter, and Pete Dandridge, ed. "Aquamanilia of the Middle Ages: Vessels for Church and Table." In Lions, Dragons & Other Beasts. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006. no. 38, p. 181, ill. (color).