Incensario (incense burner) depicting the Sun god Kinich Ahau

ca. 300 - 600

Gods 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.

Ceramic

8 13/16 × 13 3/8in. (22.4 × 34cm)

Margaret E. Fuller Purchase Fund and the Floyd A. Naramore Memorial Purchase Fund

77.13

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

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.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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