wooden incense burner

Wooden Incense Burner

JE 30700

Cairo Museum

This magnificent gilded incense burner is in the shape of a large open right hand. The palm is holding a pot in which to burn incense. The palm emerges from an open lotus flower, on the other side of which is a small falcon's head. The latter forms the handle of the burner as is often seen in temple scenes.

The details of the fingers and fingernails of the hand are elaborately incised in the wood. The artist delicately executed the features of the falcon's head, especially the inlaid dark blue eyes. He also magnificently detailed the petals of the blooming lotus flower.

The dark color of the interior of the pot suggests that it was actually used in daily rituals in the temple for the gods or for royal cults in the Greco-Roman period.

source: globalegyptianmuseum.org