Daily grace

Incense burner

11th–12th century, Afghanistan or eastern Iran

cast bronze with openwork and engraved decoration

Islam, like Judaism, prohibits figural representation of any sort in religious settings, but this ban does not apply to nonreligious representations of people and animals. In particular, vessels fashioned in the shapes of animals, such as this incense burner in the form of a stylized lion, were popular in Persian domestic settings. The burner is hinged at the breast, where a shallow dish would hold coal and incense—often aloe, sometimes mixed with frankincense or ambergris, a waxy substance found in the intestines of sperm whales. The lion’s tail would have provided a handle by which to hold the heated vessel if it needed to be moved.