Incensario Urn Lid

Teotithuacan, 200-740 A.D. The faces of Teotihuacan appear on the lids of incense burners and stone masks once used to cover mummy bundles. The figure on the clay lid has double earspools and a stylized butterfly nose ornament, which are insignia of high rank. The jar underneath the lid would have held a fragrant incense called copal. This material would have smouldered in the jar, releasing scented smoke through holes in the lid. In some figures, the smoke escaped through the eyes and the mouth, giving the figure of the god on the lid an otherworldly appearance.