This delicate incense burner is made of two hemispherical halves with a gimbal cup that rotates on a single axis, ensuring that the cup always remains upright. This mechanism is called a “Cardanic suspension,” named after the 16th-century Italian mathematician Gerolamo Cardano. The surface displays many figures that together represent the activities of royal life: hunting, music, drinking, and furusiyya (equestrianism). This is an outstanding example of a royal or a princely incense burner, though the absence of a dedicatory text on its surface suggests that it might have been made commercially and not commissioned by a specific patron, despite its high quality.
