Incense burner in the form of a lion
15th century
Description
This incense burner combines the Indian sculptural tradition and the Islamic tradition of zoomorphic incense burners. To judge from two similar objects which have survived, this one would have stood on a circular platform with its raised paw resting on the head of a small elephant. The lid, which would have covered its back, is also missing. The incense would have been placed in the lion's body, and perfumed smoke would have been released from the holes in its chest, resembling beads on necklaces, and through its mouth, around its movable tongue. Notes from the Glory and Prosperity exhibition, Feb - June 2002.
Dimensions
17.46 x 13.97 x 6.67 cm (6 7/8 x 5 1/2 x 2 5/8 in.)
Provenance
Oscar Meyer Antiques, Los Angeles, CA? (by 1964), sold; to Fogg Art Museum, 1964.
Related Artworks
View MoreFritware
11th-12th centurySilverplate
20th centuryAmericanPolychrome plaster
20th centuryMinoanTerracotta
Qianlong-style molded porcelain: porcelain with molded decoration under very pale blue qingbai-type glaze
18th-19th centuryChineseGray stoneware with incised, combed, and openwork decoration and with splashes of natural ash glaze. Reportedly recovered in Hyŏnp'ung-myŏn, Talsŏng-gun, near Kyŏngju, North Kyŏngsang province, in 1961.
5th-6th centuryKoreanTerracotta
Porcelain with underglaze cobalt-painted decoration
18th centuryKoreanSilver
17th centuryBritishMetal
20th centuryGermanLight gray stoneware with variegated copper-green glaze applied with a brush, with artist’s mark impressed on the base
21st centuryJapaneseCopper
19th centuryOttoman