The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Incense Burner Support

Incense Burner Support

600–900
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Calcium deposits indicate this incense burner was found in a cave, which the Maya viewed as entrances to the underworld.

Description

This stand, made of a large tube with side panels, originally held a bowl used to ritually burn incense. Modeled on the front is a group that includes the Maya sun deity and two flanking, profile figures in lower relief. All are supported by a turtle, a symbol of the earth and the underworld. Thus, the ensemble may be a model of the cosmos.
  • ?-before 1959
    Wolfgang Paalen, sold? to Black Tulip Galleries, Inc., Dallas, TX
    ?-1959
    (Black Tulip Galleries, Inc., Dallas, TX, 1959, sold to James C. and Florence C. Gruener)
    1959-1990
    James C. [1903-1990] and Florence C. [1908-1982] Gruener, Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1990
    The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75. cat. no. 84, p. 272, repr. fig. 84, p. 257 www.jstor.org
  • {{cite web|title=Incense Burner Support|url=false|author=|year=600–900|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1990.174