Though the form of this vessel may seem like a modern teacup and saucer, in actuality, it once held a more fragrant substance: incense. To create a secure base for its smoldering contents, the potter has purposefully attached the saucer to the stemmed cup, which could hold diverse mixtures of prepared herbs, wood, and oils for an array of uses. As a fashionable touch, the delicate fritware body of this burner mimics the light weight and translucent white color of Chinese porcelain. Thus, even if its owner did not have the wealth of an elite, their choice of burner would have implied a more expensive imported product, poised to impress guests and companions in numerous settings.

Recipes for various types of incense survive from the early modern period, which offer a tantalizing sense of this object’s contents and function. Among the incense geared towards medicinal uses, one could battle insomnia by mixing opium with more common herbs including mint, anemone, and juice of jasmine. Other mixtures came in handy for repelling vermin, such one recipe calling for sulphur, mercury, and bitumen, among others. In order to create a solid form to burn, a practitioner would grind herbs with a mortar and pestle, then compress the mixture in a copper tube, before fermenting it in moist dung and leaving it to dry. Once ready for use, the bowl of this object likely assisted in mixing ancillary fragrances like aloe wood and rose oil, which could be burned alongside the incense with dry powder. The cup and stem are undecorated, but the interior of the saucer bears two concentric bands of contiguous palmettes and interlaced crenellations, finely incised into the body.

Single-folio paintings from the same period help to contextualize these incense burners in Safavid settings of leisure. For example, M.73.5.475 captures a scene where picnicking urbanites burn fragrances in vessels, similar to the one here, to enhance the sensory delights of the outdoors, or perhaps to ease into a nap following their meal. When used indoors, hosts often prepared an incense burner to accompany the presentation of a full coffee set to guests, alongside other fragrances that perfumed this ritual of hospitality, like rosewater. Burners of costlier materials like gilt bronze might also find a place in houses of worship. Endowment deeds and inventories indicate that several burners came into Safavid mosques and churches as gifts from the elite. In each context, incense burners elevated the sensory experience of a space.