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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.
Page data
- Page
- 1
- Source index
- 0
- Type
- photo
- Media ID
- d28422e36bd6d698
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 126089
- Core
- obj
- Type
- object
DTO data
{
"id": "126089",
"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",
"citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1948.308.a",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q60780023"
],
"genreSpecific": [
"Metalwork"
],
"iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1948.308.a/1948.308.a_web.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1948.308.a/1948.308.a_web.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1948.308.a/1948.308.a_web.jpg",
"imageCount": 1,
"source": "import",
"dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 35.5 x 11 cm (14 x 4 5/16 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.a"
}
Context sent to Scholar
Document identity
{
"localId": "126089",
"label": "Feline Incense Burner",
"core": "obj",
"dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
"id": "126089",
"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",
"citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1948.308.a",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q60780023"
],
"genreSpecific": [
"Metalwork"
],
"iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1948.308.a/1948.308.a_web.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1948.308.a/1948.308.a_web.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1948.308.a/1948.308.a_web.jpg",
"imageCount": 1,
"source": "import",
"dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 35.5 x 11 cm (14 x 4 5/16 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.a"
}
Document 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 cm (14 x 4 5/16 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.a",
"collection": "Islamic Art",
"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.\""
}
],
"didYouKnow": "A Kufic inscription against a background of scrolling arabesques runs along the back and neck of the feline form.",
"citations": [
{
"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",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n129"
},
{
"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",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n232"
},
{
"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",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n232"
},
{
"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",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n284"
},
{
"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"
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1948.308.a",
"creditline": "John L. Severance Fund",
"updatedAt": "2026-06-17 11:19:43.732000",
"imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1948.308.a/1948.308.a_print.jpg",
"sourceId": 126089,
"dept": "Islamic Art",
"coll": "Islamic Art",
"med": "Copper alloy, cast, engraved, chased, and pierced",
"thumbnail_url": null,
"image_url": null
}
Page context
{
"seq": 1,
"pageIndex": 0,
"type": "photo",
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1948.308.a/1948.308.a_web.jpg",
"mediaId": "d28422e36bd6d698"
}