A large part-gilt cloisonné incense burner on three curved legs and lid

Description:

China, Qianlong/ Jiaqing period
H. 43/ B. 37,3 cm
The curved side handles with unusual filled decoration in blue enamel.
Ancient South German private collection, collected from 1970 onwards
Cloisonné- vessels of this size and decoration were made for the numerous temples inside and outside the palace grounds. It was the Qianlong Emperor who decided that the shapes of the altarware should reflect those of the archaic ritual utensils. He ordered the Grand Secretaries to use classical materials in the design of ritual objects and insisted that all designs had to be approved by him before production. The ritual objects designed under Qianlong's reign were illustrated in the Illustrated Regulations for Ceremonial Utensils of the Qing Dynasty (Huangchao liqi tushu). Incense burners of this type were usually part of a five-piece altar set consisting of an incense burner in the shape of a three-legged thing, two candlesticks and two flower vases. The set was placed on an altar in front of a Buddha during ceremonies. Incense and flowers are mentioned in the Lotus Sutra as two of the most important offerings, while the lamps and candles represent the Buddha's wisdom, which illuminates the darkness and dispels ignorance. See a five-part Cloisonnéenamel altar in situ in the Qianqing Gong (Mansion of Heavenly Purity), illustrated in Chiumei Ho and Bennet Bronson, Splendours of China's Forbidden City, Chicago, 2004, fig. 32 - Minor traces of age, the lid old repl.