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Incensario (incense burner) depicting the Sun god Kinich Ahau
Incensario (incense burner) depicting the Sun god Kinich Ahau

Incensario (incense burner) depicting the Sun god Kinich Ahau

Dateca. 300 - 600
Label TextGods of sun and rain were essential for agriculture-based societies—their names and symbols vary. The triangle over the head of this god and the bow-tie shape at the mouth are attributes passed down from the Teotihuacan culture to the Maya. Aromatic resin was burned in this container as a way for humans to communicate with the supernatural realm and its beings.
Object number77.13
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Art of the Ancient Americas, July 10, 1999 - May 11, 2003. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Feasting with the Gods: Art and Ceremony in Ancient Mesoamerica and the Central Andes, Dec. 11, 2003 - July 19, 2004. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Cosmic Beings in Mesoamerican and Andean Art, Nov. 10, 2018 - ongoing.
Credit LineMargaret E. Fuller Purchase Fund and the Floyd A. Naramore Memorial Purchase Fund
Dimensions8 13/16 × 13 3/8in. (22.4 × 34cm)
MediumCeramic
Incense burner
Mexican
Object number: 57.69
Large jar-incense burner shape
Chinese
1368-1644
Object number: 33.1068
Incense burner
Chinese
early 6th century
Object number: 43.2
Chinese
early 7th-early 10th Century
Object number: 48.162
Photo: Susan Cole
Maya
ca. 600 - 900
Object number: 81.109
Foot base vase
Costa Rican
Object number: 54.16
Vase
Costa Rican
Object number: 54.18