Hexagonal Censer

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Culture Byzantine

Title Hexagonal Censer

Date Late 5th–6th century

Medium Bronze

Dimensions thickness (walls of censer's body): 1/8 in. (0.4 cm)
Overall (height with chain): 8 7/8 in. (22.5 cm)
Overall (censer's body): 2 × 2 9/16 × 5 1/2 in. (5.1 × 6.6 × 14 cm)

Credit Line Burton Y. Berry Collection, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

Accession Number 75.110.21

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About this Work

Censers are hanging containers used for burning incense that produces aromatic fumes. The Christian church adopted earlier Greco-Roman practices and frequently used censers in Church processions and funerary rites. Some censers were modeled after church architecture. The shape of this censor may refer to the hexagonal form associated with baptistery architecture.

Provenance
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Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Hexagonal Censer | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=75.110.21