Liturgical Incense Burner
second half 19th century
Medium
Graphite and watercolor on tracing paper
Dimensions
sheet: 7 1/16 x 4 1/4 in. (17.9 x 10.8 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1960
Accession Number
60.632.124(2)
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate drawing, titled *Liturgical Incense Burner*, a finely detailed design for a church censer from anonymous British hands in the second half of the 19 century. Rendered in graphite and watercolor on tracing—a medium favored by architects and designers for its, allowing overlays and precise tracings—the 7 1/16 x 4 1/4-inch sheet showcases ornate Gothic-inspired elements, including a prominent cross, evoking the era's fascination with medieval ecclesiastical objects. In Victorian Britain, amid the Gothic Revival movement, such liturgical artifacts symbolized spiritual devotion and ri...