Incense Burner
Dateca. 350-550
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
Object number91.0367
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.
