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Source 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.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
126088
label
Feline Incense Burner
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
126088
contentType
object
title
Feline Incense Burner
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.
date
1150–1200
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60754723
genreSpecific
Metalwork
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
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.)
cul
Iran, Khurasan, Seljuq period of Iran (1037–1194)
accession
1948.308
Source extras
tec
Copper alloy, cast, engraved, chased, and pierced
tombstone
Feline Incense Burner, 1150–1200. 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.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1948.308
collection
Islamic Art
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.
didYouKnow
Arabic inscriptions in Kufic script against a background of scrolling arabesques run along the back and neck of the feline form.
citations
citation
“Part II. Annual Report Issue for the Year 1948.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>, vol. 36, no. 6, 1949, pp. 111–142.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 117
url
www.jstor.org/stable/25141566
citation
Shepherd, Dorothy G. "A Lion Incense Burner of the Seljuk Period". <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>44 (6): 115-118.
page_number
Reproduced: cover & p. 117; Mentioned: p. 115-118
url
www.jstor.org/stable/25142215
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 707
citation
<em>Persian Art Before And After the Mongol Conquest.: [Exhibition] April 9-May 17, 1959. the University of Michigan, Museum of Art, Ann Arbor</em>. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, Museum of Art, 1959.
page_number
Mentioned: cat. no. 46, p. 30; Reproduced: p. 57
citation
Ghirshman, Roman. <em>Sept mille ans d'art en Iran: Petit Palais, Octobre 1961-Janvier 1962</em>. Paris: Association francaise d’action artistique, 1961.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 176, pl. CVIII
citation
Kühnel, Ernst. <em>Islamische Kleinkunst: ein Handbuch für Sammler und Liebhaber</em>. Braunschweig: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1963.
page_number
Reproduced ill no. 127; Mentioned: p 166-167
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 208
citation
Educational Research Council of Greater Cleveland, The Human Adventure, III: Medieval Civilization. Grade 5, Vol. 3 (1st edition, 1965-1966)
page_number
Reproduced: p. 71
citation
Melikian-Chirvani, Assadullah Souren. <em>Le griffon iranien de Pise Matériaux pour un corpus de l'argenterie et du bronze iraniens III</em>. Wiesbaden: [s.n.], 1968.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 72; Mentioned: p. 71-73
citation
Grabar, Oleg. "The Visual Arts, 1050-1350." <em>Cambridge History of Iran</em>. 5 (1968): 626-658.
page_number
Reproduced: pl 11; Mentioned: p. 645
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 208
citation
Kühnel, Ernst and Katherine Watson, translator. <em>Islamic Arts</em>. London: Bell, 1970.
page_number
Reproduced: fig.127; Mentioned: p. 161
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 264
citation
Zorzi, Alvise. <em>Marco Polo: Venezia E L'oriente</em>. Milano: Electa, 1981.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 114; Mentioned: p 118p.
citation
Baer, Eva. <em>Metalwork in Medieval Islamic Art</em>. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1983.
page_number
Reproduced: fig. 41; Mentioned: p. 57
citation
<em>Isurāmu jidai no dosei hakogata kōro</em> [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.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 101
citation
"Clay Cuboid Incense Burners of the Islamic Period," <em>Bulletin of the Research Center for Silk Roadology</em> 25 (2009) 101.
page_number
p. 101
citation
Mackie, Louise W. <em>Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century</em>. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015.
page_number
Reproduced: P. 132, fig. 4.2; Mentioned: P. 33, 133
citation
Gertsman, Elina and Barbara H. Rosenwein. <em>The Middle Ages in 50 Objects</em>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 22-25; Reproduced: p. 23
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 226–227
creditline
John L. Severance Fund
updatedAt
2026-06-17 11:19:43.722000
sourceId
126088
dept
Islamic Art
coll
Islamic Art
med
Copper alloy, cast, engraved, chased, and pierced
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
e325bc905c86d51c