Incense burner in the form of peploforos 
© Ephorate of Antiquities of Phocis, Ministry of Culture and Sports

This magnificent bronze incense-burner has the form of a peploforos holding the hemishperical body of a cauldron in which the incense burned. 

The female figure wears the doric peplos and a net (kekryphalos) holding her hair tied up. She leans on her right leg, whereas the left one is lifted up, ready to walk. Her face is turned towards the right hand. The front side is very elaborate, whereas the back side is coarser and simpler. Her arms are raised in order to hold up a bronze cauldron, where the incense was placed. A perforated cover, now lost, was placed on the rim in order to let out the smoke when the incense burned.

The style reminds of peploforoi from the museum of Olympia. 
It was probably produced in a workshop of Paros around 460-450 B.C., although some views suggest that it comes from a local workshop of Delphi or from some city on the Corinthian Gulf. It has been found in the dump of the Sacred Way, along with other bronze items and several precious ex-votos. 

Text: Dr. Athanasios Sideris, Archaeologist
Translation: Dr. Aphrodite Kamara, Historian