PERFUME BURNER

Description The object consists of a large, shallow plate, in the center of which stands a composite censer with zoomorphic figures in the round: a turtle-shaped base, a bird-shaped stem, a large cup and a removable dragon-like lid. The turtle raises its head with its pointed snout. The armor plates are rendered with engraved lines. The bird rests with its stubby three-toed legs on its carapace, raising its long neck and high three-feathered tail upward until they touch. It holds a sphere in its beak, on which the perfume burner cup rests. The lid fits into the raised edge of the cup, taking the shape of a winged dragon, whose limbs wrap around creating an openwork cone that culminates with the head in the round. Perfume burners and lamps with such a stand are quite common in northern China in the 1st century BCE.