Incense Burner

Tripod base and shaft of a tabletop thymiaterion (incense burner), the incense cup now missing. A sharply tapered, faceted, octagonal shaft surmounts a tripod base on simple leonine paws, the toes elongated and claw like, resting on small torus bases. Between the legs are single pendant palmettes of seven points. The center of each palmette is a diamond shaped cut out. Above this, and continuing onto the upper surface of the legs, is engraved decoration of scrolls, volutes and palmettes, continue the pattern of the cast palmettes. The top of the base has a convex moulding. The shaft, cast separately, was set sloppily into the base, and blobs of bronze left by the process are visible on its undersurface. The top of the shaft, now broken, has traces of a round hole, set horizontally through it for fastening the (lost) upper element. The thymiaterion has been severely cleaned down to shiny bronze, and the surface treated.