Serpiente 3 Incenso

A serpent coiled back on itself, sculpted as an incense piece. The name gives the game away in Spanish and Portuguese, and the coil is the sensible shape for the job as much as the handsome one: low, settled, weighted through the middle, with the head lifted and turned as though it has just noticed somebody in the room. Snakes and smoke have been paired in ornament for a very long time, from temple carving to Victorian brassware, so this sits inside an old tradition rather than arriving as a novelty. On a windowsill, a bathroom shelf or the far corner of a desk it holds its own as a small sculpture whether or not anything is burning. It is for people who like a little menace among their home objects, and it makes an easy present for anyone who keeps a box of incense by the door.