Incense Burner with Cover

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Incense burners such as this were usually placed in the tokonoma alcove of a room both to scent the room and as decorative artworks. This oval-shaped incense burner has small legs, and a cover reticulated in maple-leaf forms to match the underglaze blue decoration of the body. The handle is a figure of a horse. The incense burner would have contained fine ash on top of which incense wood or incense mixture would have been burned. The delicate smoke of the burning incense would come through the reticulated maple leaves of the cover. The incense used would have provided a seasonal reference to autumn, along with the maple-leaf theme of the burner and other items displayed in the alcove, such as flowers and paintings or calligraphy.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art