Incense-burner
BackThis object is a Gateway object. Gateway objects are significant artefacts in the collection and are used to represent and introduce bigger subjects and themes.
Description:
Brass incense-burner; spherical, made of two interlocking hemispheres; cast brass decorated with pierced decoration and silver inlays giving the name of the Mamluk Amir (Prince) Badr al-Din Baysari.
Object type: | incense-burner |
Museum number: | 1878,1230.682 |
Culture/period: | Mamluk dynasty |
Date: | 1277-1279 |
Production place: | Made in: Damascus (?)~Made in: Cairo (?) |
Materials: | brass (cast), silver |
Technique: | cast(brass), inlaid(silverdecoration), pierced |
Dimensions: | Diameter: 18.40 cm Height: 18.50 cm |
Inscriptions: | Inscription details: inscription in Arabic Inscription quoted: Inscription translation: Made for the honourable authority, the high the lordly, the great amir, the esteemed, the masterly, the holy warrior, the defender, the protector of frontiers, the fortified by God, the triumphant, the victorious Badr al-Din Baysari, al-Zahiri [officer of Sultan Baybars], and Sa'idi [officer of Sultan Baraka Khan]. (Rachel Ward, Islamic Metalwork, 1993, p. 111) Inscription note: Gives the name of the Mamluk Amir Badr al-Din Baysari |
Location: | 12 |
Exhibition history: | Exhibited: 2001 23 Apr-23 Jul, Paris, Musee du Louvre; L'Etrange et le Merveilleux en Terre d'Islam 2000 12 Jun-17 Sept, St Petersburg, The Hermitage 'In the name of the beneficent and merciful' 1999-2000 15 Dec-24 Apr, Amsterdam, De Nieuwe Kerk Museum, 'In the name of the beneficent and merciful' New-York, Guggenheim Museum; Africa the Art of a continent. 04 Jun 1996.EA, Ethno also lending |
Associated names: | Named in inscription: Badr al-Din Baysari |
Acquisition names: | Bequeathed by: John Henderson |
Acquisition date: | 1878 |
Curator's comments:
This incense burner was made for an important Mamluk amir, Badr al-Din Baysari who served two sultans (Sultan Baybars 1260-77) and Baraka Khan (1277-9) and died in prison in 1298. The object prominently displays his emblem of a doubleheaded eagle, along with the inscription bearing his name and titles. Coal and incense would have been placed in a container held by gimbals, the smoke from which poured out from the perforated surface.
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