The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of January 20, 2021

Incense Burner Support

600-900

Mexico, Chiapas, Palenque Region, Maya, Classic period

Pottery with polychrome

Overall: 54.7 x 31.3 x 28.8 cm (21 9/16 x 12 5/16 x 11 5/16 in.)

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener 1990.174

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Calcium deposits indicate this incense burner was found in a cave, which the Maya viewed as entrances to the underworld.

Description

This stand, made of a large tube with side panels, originally held a bowl used to ritually burn incense. Modeled on the front is a group that includes the Maya sun deity and two flanking, profile figures in lower relief. All are supported by a turtle, a symbol of the earth and the underworld. Thus, the ensemble may be a model of the cosmos.

Provenance
?-before 1959
Wolfgang Paalen, sold? to Black Tulip Galleries, Inc., Dallas, TX
?-1959
(Black Tulip Galleries, Inc., Dallas, TX, 1959, sold to James C. and Florence C. Gruener)
1959-1990
James C. [1903-1990] and Florence C. [1908-1982] Gruener, Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1990
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Citations
Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75. cat. no. 84, p. 272, repr. fig. 84, p. 257 www.jstor.org
Source URL: https://cmaweb23-bbn-2.clevelandart.org/art/1990.174