Incensario
Artist
Unknown
Datecirca 350–550
MediumTerracotta with traces of red paint
Dimensionsoverall: 20 1/2 x 18 x 17 3/4 in. (52.1 x 45.7 x 45.1 cm)
ClassificationsCeramics
Credit LineGift of Dr. and Mrs. Francis Robicsek
Object number2000.1
On View
Not on viewThis lidded incense burner probably was placed on an altar or on the steps leading into a shrine. It held burning coals and copal incense (an aromatic tree resin), the smoke rising through the chimney at the back.
This style of incense burner was developed by the Teotihuacan culture of highland Mexico, the most powerful social, economic, political, and , perhaps, religious force in Meso-America during the fifth century A.D. The Maya of Guatemala were influenced by Teotihuacan, creating buildings, sculptures, and ceramic vessels in Teotihuacan style. Guatemala was renowned for its excellent cacao (chocolate), which probably attracted the people of Teotihuacan to this region.
ProvenanceRobicsek collection, Charlotte, NC; given to NCMA 2000.Published References"Principales Aquisitions des Musées en 2000." La Chronique des Arts, Supplement to the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, no. 1586 (March 2001): listed no. 162, illus (b-w) 40.
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, "Becoming the NCMA: 10 Decades of Collecting, 1924-2022," June 11-August 21, 2022. Object Rights Statement
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