Burdur ve Side Müzesi'ndeki Figürlü İki Buhurdan

Two Censers with Figurative Decoration at Burdur and Side Museums

Two cast bronze censers from the Burdur and Side museums have hemispherical bodies and a ringfoot. Three suspension-lugs on the rims indicate that they once had three chains. In the middle of the foot of the Burdur example is an eight-petal flower motif in relief. The middle register containing scenes from the life of the Christ on the body is bordered with a wave motif below and a grooved-band above. Between the upper grooved-band and the other grooved-band on the rim is a series of heart motifs with two leaves both at the beginning and the end. On the other hand, the Side example has a Greek cross motif with curved arm-ends in relief in the middle of the foot and engraved zigzags on the edge of the base. On the rim is a thin band of engraved double zigzags; below it is a wide band of stylised rumi motifs and below that a band decorated with three half-arches placed inside each other. The body of the censer is bordered by the arches band above and the zigzags below and contains scenes from the life of the Christ. While the Side example contains six scenes from the life of the Christ, namely Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Baptism, Crucifixion and Women at the Empty Tomb, the Burdur example contains seven scenes including Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Shepherds Visiting the Newborn Christ, Baptism, Crucifixion and Women at the Empty Tomb. The figures were formed from the mould during casting of the censers. As of the Early Christian and Byzantine periods, censers are thought to have been produced at monasteries and local workshops in, above all, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Armenia and Istanbul. Pilgrims from distant lands such as Italy, Spain and Gallia or from nearby lands like Egypt, Mesopotamia and Anatolia came to the Holy Land and some of them preferred staying there and taking jobs to make their living in the production of such works in the workshops in and around Jerusalem. Thus some works integrated some local features from the homeland of its master. In general, many masters and artists from the capital participated in projects at various places on the order of the emperor, and during the course of such projects they worked side by side with the local masters. While major monuments were built and decorated by masters from the capital, usually minor works of art were produced by the local artists. Censers are mostly considered products of collaboration among the local and foreign masters in numerous workshops in the region. Thus, censers, which could be produced in mass amounts and cheaply in comparison with other works of art, were decorated sometimes according to the taste of the particular master, but more commonly according to the tradition passed down from generation to generation. Pilgrimage souvenirs of various materials including censers and ampullae were taken to distant places hence transferring oriental art to various Christian lands. For example, some incense burners found in Egypt were understood to have been brought there by pilgrims from Syria. Furthermore, copies of Syrian incense burners were also produced in Egypt. The incense burners produced outside Palestine are still called “Palestinian incense burners” due to their figurative program originating from the Holy Land. Thus, it is not possible to identify exactly where each incense burner was produced unless it contains an inscription. The same point holds true for the two censers studied here, which were acquired by the Burdur and Side Museums through purchase. Although it is not possible to claim a clear production site for them, their parallelism with other examples of known provenance in points such as material, style and iconographic features suggests that these examples were possibly produced in North Syria - Palestine and brought to Anatolia by pilgrims. Incense burners of Palestinian provenance transferred to other parts of the world by pilgrims are dated to the 6th-7th centuries, for they are considered the earliest examples bearing the biblical cycles (scenes from the life of the Christ) in Christian art. Incense burners were first produced in Palestine and the Palestinian products set the examples for production in other regions such as Armenia and Egypt. Incense burners produced in Syria and Palestine are dated to the 6th-9th centuries in general, those produced in Egypt are dated to the 6th - early 8th centuries, while those of Armenian origin are dated to the 10th-13th centuries. In Palestine, incense burner production gained a new impetus as of the early 12th century during the crusader period to sell to the pilgrims. However, incense burners bearing inscriptions are found very seldom. The censer at Burdur Museum can be considered a Syrian-Palestinian example from the 6th - 7th centuries based on its parallelism in material, quality of workmanship, number of scenes, iconographic and stylistic features with examples in various museums and private collections. On the other hand, the example at Side Museum resembles more those from the 6th - early 8th centuries, for it has only six scenes, it has schematised figures, emphasis is given to the hand and pointing finger of the angel in the Annunciation scene, the two woman figures share a single lower body in the Empty Tomb scene, and the tomb structure itself is similar. These parallels thus suggest the 7th - 8th centuries date for the Side example. Despite their unknown provenance, these two censers presented here, which reflect Syria-Palestinian style due to their common material, form, and floral and figurative decoration, should be considered two important examples in the Turkish museums, which contain other similar ones either in depots or on display, and which had been brought to Anatolia by their owners.

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