This object represents a type of zoomorphic incense burner, many of which have survived. The square opening in the feline's chest once held a drawer for the placement of incense whose aroma would escape through the perforated areas.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Incense Burner
Date:12th century
Geography:Found/excavated Iran, probably Hamadan
Medium:Bronze; pierced
Dimensions:Ht. 6 3/4 in. (17.14 cm) W. 5 3/8 in. (13.7 cm) D. 2 3/8 in. (6 cm) Wt. 17.9 oz. (507.513 g)
Classification:Metal
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1937
Accession Number:37.47
[ Demotte, Inc., New York, by 1931–37; sold to MMA]
London. Burlington House. "International Exhibition of Persian Art," January 7, 1931–February 28, 1931, no. 229Q.
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. 39.
Wilson, Arnold T. Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Persian Art. 3rd. ed. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1931. no. 229Q, p. 147.
Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammadan Art. 2nd rev. and enl. ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944. p. 138, ill. fig. 80 (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. 39, p. 182, ill. (color).
Kelly, Elizabeth. "A Study of Islamic Metalwork." In Zoomorphic Incense Burners of Medieval Khurasan. Oxford: BAR Publishing, 2024. pp. 64–65, 68–71, 76–77, 105–6, 276–80, ill. figs. 4.2D, 4.3A, 4.9B, 4.10D, 5.14E, C.11.1, C.11.2, C11.3A–C11.3D, C11.4A–C11.4C, C11.5A–C11.5E.
‘Umar ibn Yusuf ibn ‘Umar ibn ‘Ali ibn Rasul al-Muzaffari (Yemini, ruled 1295–96)
dated 690 AH/1291 CE
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