Two-Part Censer in the Form of an Architectural Model in the Princeton University Art Museum, April 2017

Middle Classic

Teotihuacán style

Two-part censer in the form of an architectural model, A.D. 400–550

Ceramic with pigment

top: h. 55.0 cm., diam. 29.0 cm. (21 5/8 x 11 7/16 in.) base: h. 17.0 cm., diam. 28.5 cm. (6 11/16 x 11 1/4 in.)

Gift of Samuel Merrin in honor of Allen Rosenbaum

1998-221 a-b


Gallery Label
Numerous mass-produced, mold-made elements compose this assemblage sculpture. The upper portion was made to be lifted off, so that copal (pine-tree resin) or rubber incense could be placed inside; the smoke emanated from the tube that runs through the center of the scene. The platform and angled roof indicate an architectural setting in distinctively Teotihuacan style. Birds and severed human arms hang from a temple structure above a pair of seated human figures. Three additional figures, two wearing dog or coyote masks, accompany the humans while an owl descends from the sky to perch at the very top.

Text from: artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/36384