Collection Online as of December 1, 2023

Tail for a 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: 36 cm (14 3/16 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1948.308.c

Location

116 Islamic

Fun Fact

The end of the tail is decorated with a guilloche pattern of interlacing curved lines.

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

Qur'an sura al-jum'ah (The Friday Congregation) 62:9-10 (on neck and spine)

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."

Provenance

?-1948

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

1948-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

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

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

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

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

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).

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).