Items Similar to Sculptural Cast Iron Incense Burner with Low Relief Decorative Motifs
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 6
Sculptural Cast Iron Incense Burner with Low Relief Decorative Motifs
About the Item
Unique incense burner in stacked blocks of cast iron with carved low relief design motifs.
Entitled “Touqous,” from the Arabic word for rituals, and designed by Faissal El-Malak. This ritualistic piece pays homage to the soap towers of Nablus, Palestine. This structure creates the context for a cleansing ritual inspired by the making and use of traditional olive oil soap in Palestine in addition to other cleansing and spiritual practices.
The materiality of iron and the action of pouring liquid and solidifying into a final form inspired the reference to the soap tower structures of Nablus in Palestine. The soap cubes are stamped and arranged in towers to dry for a few weeks in order to be usable. The structure of “Touqous” is now eternally solidified in iron as if perpetually activating its power.
With soap, the material is melted once again in order to cleanse a body. This association between dematerialising and cleansing is replaced in this petrified version by a more ethereal interpretation. The structure acts as an incense burner where smoke permeates the space between the cubes. Incense smoke has been used for thousands of years as a vector to connect with the divine. The cubes are covered in a relief of talismans meant to heighten different senses and emotions related to a human body. The talismans are activated by the smoke and release their power to fill the surrounding spaces and people with their medicinal effects.
This piece was originally commissioned for a 2021 exhibition entitled 'Cast Iron', in which eight artists from around the world were tasked with digitally designing exclusive editions of furniture, lighting or functional decorative objects, which the gallery would then facilitate production of, with the help of a fourth generation foundry in Virginia. Each of the digital pieces would be materialized in cast iron, the quintessential symbol of the 19th century. The focus of the exhibition was to marry the material’s origins with the new-age digital hyper-connectivity of design ideas.
About the Artist:
Faissal El-Malak is a Palestinian designer who was born in 1988 and brought up between Montreal Canada and Doha Qatar. He trained as a fashion designer in Paris’s Atelier Chardon Savard and recently moved back to the Gulf, finally settling in Dubai in September 2014. El-Malak has been working on developing his contemporary Middle Eastern design identity by bridging traditional artisan work with modern design. Previously, he has been invited to show his fashion collection at the Casablanca Festimode fashion week in Morocco and the Carthage Design and Fashion festival in Tunisia (2010). El-Malak launched his eponymous brand a year later at the Tranoi show in Paris with a collection centred around cut and sewn luxury made in France tights and leggings. El-Malak will be showcasing his relaunch collection of womenswear at Harvey Nichols Dubai in June 2015. He was one of the finalist of the first Dubai edition of Vogue Italia, "Who is on next" competition in October 2015.
- Creator:Faissal El-Malak (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 9 in (22.86 cm)Diameter: 11 in (27.94 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:2021
- Production Type:New & Custom(Limited Edition)
- Estimated Production Time:Available Now
- Condition:
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU5176124522032
About the Seller
5.0
Vetted Seller
These experienced sellers undergo a comprehensive evaluation by our team of in-house experts.
Established in 2018
1stDibs seller since 2020
19 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: <1 hour
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
More From This SellerView All
- Sculptural Cast Iron Tripod Low ChairBy TelluricoLocated in New York, NYThis is a sculptural chair of cast iron that serves as statement anywhere in the home, or as a functional outdoor sculpture. Listed price is for piece as shown, which is not in an ou...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Patio and Garden Furniture
MaterialsIron
- Sculptural Cast Iron & Bronze Accent ChairBy Chen Chen & Kai WilliamsLocated in New York, NYEarthy and grounded cast iron chair with striking Kintsugi-inspired bronze "vein" detail by Chen Chen and Kai Williams. This leathered cast iron and bronze chair...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Chairs
MaterialsBronze, Iron
- Unique, Sculptural Floor Lamp in Cast Iron and Blown Glass with Silicone DetailBy Ryan DeckerLocated in New York, NYFantastical and surrealistic floor lamp that stands on two legs, entitled 'Bionic Knees for Atlas' by American artist Ryan Decker. This preternatural piece comes from a virtual worl...Category
2010s American Futurist Floor Lamps
MaterialsIron
- Low Round Table in Cast Iron - Custom Sizes and Finish Variations AvailableBy Charlotte KingsnorthLocated in New York, NYCapturing the visual functionality of iron work from the industrial revolution period (where bolts are used to physically hold iron parts together, but also as a form of industrial d...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsIron, Metal
- Sculptural Stoneware Large Serving Bowl or Low CenterpieceBy Dana HarelLocated in New York, NYThis elegantly sculptural slip-cast stoneware vessel by San Francisco-based ceramicist Dana Harel is inspired by natural pools and water wells. The hand-carved, unglazed exterior com...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Ceramics
MaterialsStoneware, Ceramic, Pottery
- Sculptural Table Lamp in Cast Bronze and Blown GlassBy Brecht Wright GanderLocated in New York, NYFantastical Blown Glass and Cast Bronze Thorned Table Lamp entitled 'Illumination Machine' by Brecht Wright Gander, a Rhode Island-born, New Jersey-based a...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Table Lamps
MaterialsBronze, Iron
You May Also Like
- Asian Modern Designed Cast Iron Incense Burner / Ashtray Japan 1960sLocated in Miami, FLWonderful large cast iron Japanese vessel to be used as an incense burner or a heavy ashtray, perfect for outside. The vessel's design consists of a ...Category
Vintage 1960s Japanese Chinoiserie Tobacco Accessories
MaterialsIron
- Decorative Interesting Antique Print of an Egyptian Incense Burner, 1773Located in Langweer, NLAntique print titled 'Egiptisch Wierookvat (..)'. Old print depicting an Egyptian incense burner and various other Egyptian objects. Originates...Category
Antique 18th Century Prints
MaterialsPaper
- Vintage Brass Incense Burner, Chained PendulumLocated in Esbjerg, DK1950s continental incense burner in brass. The plain design testifies that it has been in use. Age consistent ware and patina are present to both the burner and pendulum chain.Category
Vintage 1950s European Arts and Crafts Religious Items
MaterialsBrass
- Bronze incense burner (censer). 19th century.Located in Madrid, ESCenser. Bronze. XIX century. Bronze censer with circular base and cup shape with lid of elaborate lines and simple openwork elements inspired by antique pieces. It has metallic chai...Category
Antique 19th Century Spanish Neoclassical Revival Religious Items
MaterialsBronze
- Decorative Cast Iron Cannon from EnglandLocated in Brussels, BrusselsElegant late 19th-early 20th century cast iron cannon from England. We can find the inscription RM1 on its side very decorative canon side that can ...Category
Early 20th Century British Edwardian Garden Ornaments
MaterialsWrought Iron
- Bronze Chinese Dragon Crane Incense Burner Architectural TempleLocated in Potters Bar, GB- Quirky bronze Chinese temple incense burner - In the shape of a dragon turtle creature out of which sprouts the cranes - Good size at over three feet tall - 96 cm - Would have p...Category
Vintage 1980s Architectural Models
MaterialsBronze