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Source Description
Supported by dragon-shaped feet on its corners, this unusual object is fashioned like a small, centralized church with gabled roofs, a lantern crowned by a turret, and four semi-circular apses. Traces of soot on the interior walls of a nearly identical object in the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin indicate that these objects once served as incense burners. The objects’ design with an open turret in the center of the roof further suggests that they may have doubled as stands for altar crosses. The fact that both objects formerly belonged to the Bouvier Collection in Amiens may be taken as an indication that they were made as a pair in the same 12th-century workshop.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
108885
label
Incense Burner and Stand for an Altar Cross
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
108885
contentType
object
title
Incense Burner and Stand for an Altar Cross
description
Supported by dragon-shaped feet on its corners, this unusual object is fashioned like a small, centralized church with gabled roofs, a lantern crowned by a turret, and four semi-circular apses. Traces of soot on the interior walls of a nearly identical object in the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin indicate that these objects once served as incense burners. The objects’ design with an open turret in the center of the roof further suggests that they may have doubled as stands for altar crosses. The fact that both objects formerly belonged to the Bouvier Collection in Amiens may be taken as an indication that they were made as a pair in the same 12th-century workshop.
date
1150–75
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60756802
genreSpecific
Metalwork
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 18.1 x 12.7 cm (7 1/8 x 5 in.)
cul
Germany, Lower Saxony, Hildesheim?, Romanesque period, 12th century
accession
1926.555
Source extras
tec
bronze: cast, gilded, engraved, and chased
tombstone
Incense Burner and Stand for an Altar Cross, 1150–75. Germany, Lower Saxony, Hildesheim?, Romanesque period, 12th century. Bronze: cast, gilded, engraved, and chased; overall: 18.1 x 12.7 cm (7 1/8 x 5 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1926.555
collection
MED - Romanesque
didYouKnow
This object may been have created for a traveling court with its entourage to use for Catholic Mass, where incense could be used in an easily transportable vessel.
citations
citation
W. M. M. “Two Medieval Objects from the Rhineland in the J. H. Wade Collection.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 14, no. 4 (April 1927): 56–63.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 62-63
citation
Winter, Patrick M. de. “The Sacral Treasure of the Guelphs.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 72, no. 1 (March 1985): 2–160.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 97, pl XX; Mentioned: p. 94
citation
Wilhelmy, Winfried, and Marcel Schawe. <em>Meisterwerke des Bischöflichen Dom- und Diözesanmuseums Mainz</em>. Regensburg : Schnell + Steiner, 2020.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 165, reproduced: p. 168, abb. 128
citation
Lutkenhaus, Hildegard, and Winifried Wilhelmy, <em>Meisterwerke des Bischoflichen Domi Und Diozesanmuseums Mainz 3, Der Mainzer Domschatz, </em>Regensburg: Verlag Schnell & Steiner GmbH, 2022.
page_number
p. 168, Abb. 128
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 05:49:27.698000
sourceId
108885
dept
Medieval Art
coll
MED - Romanesque
med
bronze: cast, gilded, engraved, and chased
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
e29e8be4ce84da27