Holy Smoke

Draws on religious art from four continents to investigate the materiality of the sacred.

Burning incense has been a widespread religious practice throughout history and remains so today. The censer and its fragrant, wafting smoke are a basic material exchange between humans and gods and can be found across historical periods, religions, and cultures. Surprisingly, however, little scholarly attention has been given to censers and the rituals they facilitate.

Holy Smoke: Censers Across Cultures investigates the practice of incense—the use of material objects to communicate with the divine—in religious contexts. The book considers the material fabrication of censers themselves, as well as the role of incense within religious ceremonies. Centering the censer not only places the object in a constellation of other religious artifacts, but also relocates rituals long relegated to the margins of religion, art, and ritual. This broad, comparative study will interest scholars in the fields of art history, archaeology, cultural history, anthropology, religious studies, and performance studies.