Incense Burner with Attached Figure

Culture: Maya
Period: Late Postclassic period, c.1200–1521
Date: c.1200–1500
Material: Ceramic with pigment
from: Petén department, Guatemala, North and Central America
Classification: Ceramics, containers
Collection: Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Current Location: On View, Gallery 114
Dimensions: 15 1/4 x 13 3/8 x 14 3/4 in. (38.8 x 34 x 37.5 cm)
diameter at top of receptacle: 11 in. (28 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Morton D. May
Rights: Public Domain
Object Number: 173:1979

NOTES

The slightly wrinkled face and sunken cheeks suggest this figure represents Itzamnaaj, one of the oldest and most important deities of the Classic and Postclassic Maya. He wears a feline headdress and a costume of heavy braided rope. The bottom of his tunic and pants are fringed with small bells typical of the copper ornaments worn during this period. Such censers became much more common in the Maya region during the Postclassic period. Their intimate size and scale suggests to some scholars a more individualized approach to religion at this time.

Provenance

- 1970
Robert Huber, Milwaukee, WI, USA

1970 - 1979
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Robert Huber [1]

1979 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Morton D. May [2]

Notes:
[1] An invoice dated September 21, 1970 from Robert Huber to Morton D. May documents the purchase of this object, listed as "Mayan Incensario, with a figure on one side, possibly a priest" [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].

[2] A letter dated July 5, 1979 from Morton D. May to James N. Wood, director of the Saint Louis Art Museum, includes the offer of this object as part of a larger donation [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Acquisitions Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, October 10, 1979.

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