Mad in Pursuit Notebook
Tibetan Incense Burner: Compassion Rises
Smoke rises from the incense—matter turning into purifying spirit. In the hexagonal burner, the incense has been laid atop the gankyil (the wheel of joy symbol), representing wisdom, compassion, and power and serving as the spiritual foundation of the vessel. Smoke rises past the protective dragons, through the celestial life force of the turquoise jewels, through the six characters of the Mani mantra (Om Mani Padme Hum) around the rim, and past the fearsome guardian face that wards off the threat of evil. A sacred space has been established. Compassion reigns.
***
I came from a house where, before every occasion, my dad would gather up the brass knick-knacks to give them a good Brasso polish, using the same attention he gave to polishing his shoes. But here in the house of Z, polishing the knick-knacks was a sacrilege, a crime against their treasured patina.
But now it's just me, living alone with a trove of ethnic and religious art. I want them to speak to me, but it's a challenge to get them to talk. Jim read books. But I zone out over long paragraphs of text. I have to play. I have to be more interactive.
Jim brought home this perforated tin can of an item in 1993, purchased for $50 at Hodge Podge Antiques. He said it was Tibetan. Looked like a candle holder inside, so maybe some sort of luminaria. The surface was dull, tinny-looking. The inside edges of the metal were sharp, which didn't convey high craft to me. Occasionally, we put LED lights inside. No one noticed the dragons. It was a humble thing that hung around.
Fast forward to 2026. I've been in the mood to research the household objects more deeply, along with how to clean and preserve them. How can I find the path between a chemical surface-stripping of an antique and leaving it untouched? Museum photos and auction catalogues make patina-rich objects gleam. How?
I stumbled on a video by David Harper: How to make your own METAL CLEANER | POLISH.* Looked easy and useful. I nominated my "tin can" for the experiment. I engaged Gemini AI to interpret the symbolism and guide the restoration.
Decades of surface grime rinsed off to reveal the dark patina of copper alloy. Now I could more clearly appreciate the six dragons rising through the clouds over the mountains. And I recognized that part of the rim design were six Sanskrit characters at each point of the hexagon.
Three of the turquoise jewels fell out during the process, but I saved them. I also ordered 15 new 5mm. turquoise cabochons to replace the ones that were missing from the start.
I hadn't given the manufacturing process a second thought, assuming the design was stamped out like so many tin ceiling tiles. But I learned that the technique was much more intensely artisanal. The Tibetan craftsmen use repoussé and chasing, gently hand-chiseling the outlines of the 3D design from the back of the metal sheet, then refining the details from the front—a slow, methodical, and highly skilled process.
I set about to preserve what I felt now was a prized heirloom. I dabbed on Renaissance micro-crystaline wax** with a stippling brush, burnished it vigorously with a horsehair shoebrush, then brought out the final gleam with a microfiber shoe cloth.
The final step was to see the censer at work. I suspected the original owners used a hot coal at the bottom of the vessel and sprinkled on the chunks of incense. I once had a little sample kit of this type, but can't find it. I did find my sandlewood incense sticks (maybe last used in 2016) and suspended one from a wire inside the burner. I watched the smoke—matter transforming into spirit, diffusing its message of compassion, and, for a few minutes, creating sacred space.
Notes
*Metal cleaner
- 1 c. dishwashing soap
- Mix with 1 c. warm water
- Mix in 2 T. sea salt (for some grit)
- Mix in 1 T. baking soda
- After thoroughly dusting the object, coat it with the mixture and scrub it in. If needed, use a toothbrush for fine areas. Very fine steel wool, if absolutely necessary, but never over clean an antique
- Let it sit for 10 minutes
- Rinse and buff dry
**Used (I learned) by museums to get a surface gleam without harming the patina. It is non-interactive and removable. It protects the surface from further damage.
4 Feb 2026
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