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Lot 343
A RARE BRONZE OPENWORK ‚DRAGON‘ CIRCULAR CENSER
Estimated Value:
2.000 € - 3.000 €
Result:
9.065 € incl. Premium and VAT
Description:
China, Xuande six-character mark to base, Ming dynasty, 16th/ 17th c.D. 14,5 cm
The top of the cover is cast in openwork with a pair of writhing chilong, enclosed by a border of alternating bagua, the Eight Trigrams, and archaistic monster masks. The sides of the cover and the censer are plain, with the outer rim of the recessed base showing traces of gilding and surrounding an Xuande mark.
Old Hannover Noble collection, according to the family bought from a family member in diplomate service in Beijing prior 1930
The Bagua are eight symbols used in Taoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight interrelated concepts. Each consists of three lines, each line either "broken" or "unbroken", respectively representing yin or yan or 1 forming binary numbers 000-111 (0 to 7). The trigrams are related to Taiji or Taegeuk philosophy, Taijiuqan and the Wuxing or "five elements". The relationships between the trigrams are represented in two arrangements, the Primordial "Earlier Heaven" or "Fu Xi" bagua, and the Manifested, "Later Heaven," or "King Wen" bagua. The trigrams have correspondences in astronomy, astrology, geography, geomancy, anatomy, the family, and elsewhere - Minor wear, very slightly corroded
