Incense Burner or Hand Warmer

Description Gilded metal objects like these were made by Muslim craftsmen in Islamic lands for export to Europe. Muslim artisans often decorated their export wares with designs resembling those on European art, in addition to geometric patterns, medallions, and foliage common in Islamic art. The name of Zayn al-Din appears on a number of such export wares. Zayn al-Din may have come from Iran, since his signature on the round incense burner or hand warmer begins with the Persian word naqsh, meaning "decorated [by]."

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
1/08/1960	Treatment	cleaned; coated
4/02/2005	Loan Consideration	examined for loan

Exhibitions

• Venice and The Islamic World, 827-1797 (Venise et l'Orient). Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris Cedex 05; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 2006-2007.

Provenance Dikran Kelekian, New York and Paris; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1922, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Signature] Zayn al-Din

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1922