Incense Burner with Squatting Figure
Culture
Eastern Nahua
Dateabout 1200–1600 CE
Mediumceramic
Dimensions29 x 17.5 x 11.5 cm (11 7/16 x 6 7/8 x 4 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineBequest of Charles B. Cohn in memory of Stuart P. Anderson
Object number1985.43
Label TextThis object belongs to a well-known group of sculptural incense burners from the Tehuacán Valley, located between Central Mexico and the Gulf Coast. Many people in ancient Mesoamerica burned copal, a tree resin, to create a fragrant smoke that was believed to allow communion with sacred entities as the fumes rose to the sky. Copal was also said to have purifying and medicinal properties.
Here, the lid of the incense burner depicts an individual with oversized earspools (plugs) and limbs bent on either side of the body. It used to be painted, as indicated by the traces of red pigment on the hands and headband. The thick copal smoke would have come out of the figure’s broad mouth, as if speaking, chanting, or blowing air.On View
Not on view
