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Feline Incense Burner

1150–1200

Part of a set. See all set records

Iran, Khurasan, Seljuq period of Iran

(1037–1194)

Copper alloy, cast, engraved, chased, and pierced

Overall: 35.5 x 11 x 32.5 cm (14 x 4 5/16 x 12 13/16 in.); Head: 17.8 x 9.5 x 12.5 cm (7 x 3 3/4 x 4 15/16 in.)

Weight: 8.08 kg (17.81 lbs.)

John L. Severance Fund 1948.308

Location

116 Islamic

Did you know?

Arabic inscriptions in Kufic script against a background of scrolling arabesques run along the back and neck of the feline form.

Description

In Iran during the 1000s and 1100s, vessels in the shape of animals gained popularity, especially as incense burners. Felines were favored in Persian art and this piece may represent a caracal, a type of lynx. The head of the creature was cast separately and is removable to fill its body with hot coals and incense. Qur’anic verses on the neck and spine remind worshippers to set work aside, attend prayer, and then disperse to seek God’s bounty. The diffusion of perfumed smoke through the burner’s pierced palmette design may have served as a sensorial reminder of this teaching.

Inscriptions

Inscription Translation

The inscription reads in part: "O believers, when proclamation is made for prayer on the Day of Congregation, hasten to God's remembrance and leave trafficking aside... then, when the prayer is finished, disperse through the land and seek God's bounty, and remember God frequently that you may prosper."

Inscription Remark

The Arabic inscriptions in Kufic script around the lion's neck and along his spine are from the Qur'an sura al-jum'ah (The Friday Congregation) 62:9-10.

Provenance

?-1948

(Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1948-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

“Part II. Annual Report Issue for the Year 1948.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 36, no. 6, 1949, pp. 111–142. Mentioned: p. 117 www.jstor.org

Shepherd, Dorothy G. "A Lion Incense Burner of the Seljuk Period". The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art. 44 (6): 115-118. Reproduced: cover & p. 117; Mentioned: p. 115-118 www.jstor.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 707 archive.org

Persian Art Before And After the Mongol Conquest.: [Exhibition] April 9-May 17, 1959. the University of Michigan, Museum of Art, Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, Museum of Art, 1959. Mentioned: cat. no. 46, p. 30; Reproduced: p. 57

Ghirshman, Roman. Sept mille ans d'art en Iran: Petit Palais, Octobre 1961-Janvier 1962. Paris: Association francaise d’action artistique, 1961. Reproduced: p. 176, pl. CVIII

Kühnel, Ernst. Islamische Kleinkunst: ein Handbuch für Sammler und Liebhaber. Braunschweig: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1963. Reproduced ill no. 127; Mentioned: p 166-167

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 208 archive.org

Educational Research Council of Greater Cleveland, The Human Adventure, III: Medieval Civilization. Grade 5, Vol. 3 (1st edition, 1965-1966) Reproduced: p. 71

Melikian-Chirvani, Assadullah Souren. Le griffon iranien de Pise Matériaux pour un corpus de l'argenterie et du bronze iraniens III. Wiesbaden: [s.n.], 1968. Reproduced: p. 72; Mentioned: p. 71-73

Grabar, Oleg. "The Visual Arts, 1050-1350." Cambridge History of Iran. 5 (1968): 626-658. Reproduced: pl 11; Mentioned: p. 645

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 208 archive.org

Kühnel, Ernst and Katherine Watson, translator. Islamic Arts. London: Bell, 1970. Reproduced: fig.127; Mentioned: p. 161

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 264 archive.org

Zorzi, Alvise. Marco Polo: Venezia E L'oriente. Milano: Electa, 1981. Reproduced: p. 114; Mentioned: p 118p.

Baer, Eva. Metalwork in Medieval Islamic Art. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1983. Reproduced: fig. 41; Mentioned: p. 57

Isurāmu jidai no dosei hakogata kōro [イスラーム時代の土製箱型香炉 = Clay cuboid incense burners of the Islamic period]. Nara-shi: Shiruku Rōdo-gaku Kenkyū Sentā, 2006. Reproduced: p. 101

"Clay Cuboid Incense Burners of the Islamic Period," Bulletin of the Research Center for Silk Roadology 25 (2009) 101. p. 101

Mackie, Louise W. Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015. Reproduced: P. 132, fig. 4.2; Mentioned: P. 33, 133

Gertsman, Elina and Barbara H. Rosenwein. The Middle Ages in 50 Objects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Mentioned: p. 22-25; Reproduced: p. 23

Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 226–227

Exhibition history

Kunstschatze aus Iran. DIE WOCHE, Zurich, Switzerland (6/6/1962).

The Exhibition of Persian Art: 7000 Years of Art in Iran. Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France (organizer) (October 19, 1961-January 31, 1962).

Islam and the Medieval West. University Art Museum, Binghamton, NY, Binghamton, NY (organizer) (April 6-May 4, 1975).

Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).

Art of the Islamic World (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (May 21, 2021-May 31, 2022).

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{{cite web|title=Feline Incense Burner|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1948.308|year=1150–1200|access-date=04 October 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Feline Incense Burner

Feline Incense Burner

Iran, Khurasan, Seljuq period of Iran

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Description

Inscription Translation

Inscription Remark

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