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5th Somalia Trade Fair- Incense Burner / Girgire

The Incense Burner (Bruciatore d'Incenso, locally known as the Girgire or Dabqaad) is an integral component of daily life, hospitality, and ceremonial culture across the Somali territories. Traditionally handcrafted from carved meerschaum or white clay, the vessel is filled with hot charcoals upon which aromatic resins—principally native frankincense (foox) and myrrh—are placed to perfume homes, garments, and communal spaces. Issued for the 5th Somalia Trade Fair (5ª Fiera della Somalia 1959), the design by Corrado Mancioli portrays a young Somali girl seated upon a traditional woven mat beside a smoking silver-toned burner. The artwork highlights the cultural and commercial significance of the domestic frankincense tradition within the burgeoning trade economy of pre-independence Somalia.