Name of Object:

Incense burner

Location:

Algiers, Algeria

Holding Museum:

National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Arts

 About National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Arts, Algiers

Date of Object:

Hegira 925–1245 / AD 1519–1830

Museum Inventory Number:

II.MI.015

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Silver, coral; damascened, fretted.

Dimensions:

Height 26 cm, diameter of the base 22 cm, opening 8 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Provenance:

Algiers.

Description:

This spherically shaped incense burner has a very varied composition. The lid takes the form of a fretted dome, decorated with interlacing foliage elements and surmounted by an open rosette encrusted with coral. The lower half, in which the incense is placed, features the same ornamentation. The two halves are attached to one another via a hinge and a small chain, from which hangs a ball of coral. The entire piece rests on a round base at an angle, on gentle volutes encrusted in coral and decorated with stylised vegetal elements that alternate with damascened surfaces that stick out.
The aromas of incense or of amber, burning inside on hot charcoal, escaped through the perforated lid.
Used inside both homes and mosques during religious festivities, the incense burner contributed a pleasant aroma to the surrounding environment.

View Short Description

Perfume burner with an openwork, domed lid crowned with a coral-encrusted rosette and attached to the lower part, where the incense was placed, by a hinge and a small chain suspending a ball of coral. On the base, the stylised plant decoration alternates with damascened areas.

Selected bibliography:

Eudel, P., Dictionnaire des bijoux de l'Afrique du Nord, Maroc, Algérie, Tripolitaine, Paris, 1906.
Eudel, P., L'orfèvrerie algérienne et tunisienne, Paris, 1902.
Marçais, G., Le musée Stéphane Gsell, musée des antiquités et d'art musulman d'Alger, Algiers, 1950.
Marye, G., Catalogue du Musée national des antiquités algériennes, Part 2, Algiers, 1899.

Citation of this web page:

Ali Benbella "Incense burner" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;dz;Mus01;34;en

Prepared by: Ali Benbella
Copyedited by: Margot Cortez
Translation by: Maria Vlotides
Translation copyedited by: Monica Allen


MWNF Working Number: AL 60