Cleveland Museum of Art

Head for a Feline Incense Burner

Date

1150–1200

Medium

Copper alloy, cast, engraved, chased, and pierced

Culture

Iran, Khurasan, Seljuq period of Iran (1037–1194)

Department

Islamic Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

In Iran during the 1000s and 1100s, vessels in the shape of animals gained popularity, especially as incense burners. Felines were favored in Persian art and this piece may represent a caracal, a type of lynx. The head of the creature was cast separately and is removable to fill its body with hot coals and incense. Qur’anic verses on the neck and spine remind worshippers to set work aside, attend prayer, and then disperse to seek God’s bounty. The diffusion of perfumed smoke through the burner’s pierced palmette design may have served as a sensorial reminder of this teaching. The head and body were each cast in halves that were soldered or welded together.

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