A RARE BRONZE DRAGON-FISH FORM CENSER

Description:

Japan, dated 1744 (made in the koushi year of the Enkyō era, Tokuharu)
H. 20,4 cm
The censer is cast with a fish-form body, with the detachable cover in the form of a dragon’s head. It is further inscribed with an eight character inscription on the base of the censer.
Former old Cologne private collection, acquired in the 1970s by repute
The present lot is most likely the counterpart to a dragonfish sold at Christie's Hong Kong (4 April 2017, lot 63). The poem inscription found there matches the inscription and date found here. At Christie's, however, the bronze was located to China and dated to the Ming dynasty. Both pieces originally came from a private collection in Cologne, where they were presumably still united as a pair. - Minor wear