Incense Burner
Artist
Unknown
Datecirca 300–600
MediumCeramic with traces of white, yellow, and black paint
Dimensionsoverall: 23 x 17 3/4 x 10 in. (58.4 x 45.1 x 25.4 cm)
ClassificationsCeramics
Credit LineGift of Dr. and Mrs. Francis Robicsek
Object number98.7
On View
On viewThis incense burner simulates the mountain of fire, a volcano where the dead rise to the heavens through cremation. It employs a metaphor drawn from nature to associate the transformation of the deceased person with the metamorphosis of a butterfly. The clouds of aromatic smoke pouring out reenact the funerary pyre and the rebirth of the deceased.
[A. González, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," 2022]ProvenanceWilliam Kaplan (dealer), New York; purchased by Dr. Francis Robicsek about 1973; given to NCMA 1998
Published ReferencesMary Ellen Soles, entry for Incense Burner, in North Carolina Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2010), 84, illus. (color) 85.
Exhibition HistoryRaleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Objects of Desire: The Museum Collects, 1994-2004," July 18, 2004-February 27, 2005.
Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, “Reflections on Light: Works from the NCMA Collection,” September 9, 2020–August 15, 2021.
Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–present. Object Rights Statement
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