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Incense burner with Tlaloc attributes

Incense burner with Tlaloc attributes
 900 CE-1000

Medium
earthenware
Measurements
65.4 × 41.5 × 39.0 cm
Place/s of Execution
El Chanal, Colima, West Mexico, Mexico
Accession Number
2002.215
Department
Pre-Columbian Art
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Presented through the NGV Foundation by Nigel Morgan, Founder Benefactor, 2002
© Public Domain
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work

These large cylindrical censers would have been used during rituals in which priests would burn incense to commune with the gods. Both of these incensarios have many typical attributes of Tlaloc the god of rain and lightning. These include large projecting cylindrical eyes, the large upturned nose, which became increasingly diagnostic of the deity in Post Classic Mesoamerica, and upturned canine teeth associated with the jaguar attributes of the deity’s origins.