This type of incense burner, sometimes described as a ‘handwarmer’, was inspired by armillary spheres produced in China as early as the Tang dynasty (618-907) for the use of astronomers. They were made in the Mamluk empire, sometimes for export to European cities with colder climates. Moreover, a 15th century Mamluk incense-burner in the Ashmolean Museum, has been adapted into an oil lamp. Certainly, the light shining through the decorated surface demonstrates the reason for the arrangement of the pierced holes. According to Sylvia Auld, the careful arrangement could be interpreted as a reference to the night skies, with the points of light representing the stars. See, Sylvia Auld, Renaissance Venice, Islam and Mahmud the Kurd – A Metalworking Enigma, Al-Tajir World of Islam Trust, 2004, pp. 108-109.

Perhaps the most famous example of this type, and one of the earliest Mamluk spherical brass incense burners (Circa 1270) is the one made for the Mamluk Amir Badr al-Din Baysari, in the British Museum (Museum Number: 1878,1230.682), London. Please see, https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1878-1230-682.

Also see the exhibition catalogue Renaissance of Islam: Art of the Mamluks, (Texts by Esin Atil), the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, 1981, p. 59.

A related example is in the Bargello National Museum, Florence, (Inv. no. OdA 1911, No. 150). See the exhibition catalogue, Islamic Art and Florence from the Medici to the 20th Century, Ed. Giovanni Curatola, Giunti, Firenze Musei, Florence, 2018, p. 199. Also see, Marco Spallanzani, Metalli Islamici a Firenze Nel Rinascimento, The Bruschettini Foundation for Islamic and Asian Art, Genova, 2010, p. 155. For other published Mamluk spherical brass incense burners please see, Islamic Metalwork in the Freer Gallery of Art, Texts by Esin Atil, W. T. Chase, Paul Jett, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington 1985, p. 171; James W. Allan, Metalwork of the Islamic World – The Aron Collection, Sotheby’s, London, 1986, p. 103.

There is a comparable Mamluk incense-burner in the Bargello National Museum, Florence, which bears striking similarities with the present piece. The vertical stems, with stylized floral designs in the middle and those on our incense-burner are almost identical. See, Marco Spallanzani, Metalli Islamici – A Firenze Nel Rinascimento, The Bruschettini Foundation For Islamic and Asian Art, Florence, 2010, p. 137.

Another similarly decorated Mamluk incense-burner is in the Poldi-Pezzoli Museum (Inv. No. 765), Milan. See, Sylvia Auld, Renaissance Venice, Islam and Mahmud the Kurd – A Metalworking Enigma, Al-Tajir World of Islam Trust, 2004, p. 125.