Incense Burner
Artist/Maker
Teotihuacán
Central Highlands, Mexico
Dateca. 350-550
CultureTeotihuacán
Mediumpottery, pigment and iron pyrite
DimensionsOverall: 20 x 15 3/4 x 9 1/4 in. (50.8 x 40 x 23.5 cm)
ClassificationsContainers
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Stoetzer
Terms
Object number91.0367
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionThis modest incense burner has fewer decorative elements than more elaborate examples, but the same “theatre-shape and basic attributes, such as the naturalistic depiction of a human figure wearing a butterfly nose mask. The ornate lid is matched with a lower receptacle for burning resin incense, which is decorated with the spikes of a young ceiba (Ceiba pentandra) tree, a common practice throughout Mesoamerica. Three mirrors adorn the top band with a prominent floral symbol below the face. The butterfly mask motif has been replicated at the base.- Art of the Ancient Americas
mid 18th century
