A large partially fire-gilded and splashed bronze incense burner

Estimated Value:

6.000 € - 10.000 €

Result:

9.065 € incl. Premium and VAT

Description:

China, Xuande seal mark at the base, 17th cent.
B. 50 cm
Round body all supported on three elephant-head feet, each with long curled tusks and bejewelled harnesses, flanked at the sides by a pair of elephant-head handles with upturned. Openwork lid with foliage/scrollwork and calabashes (hulu), with elephant and basket as handle. Partially fire-gilt and splashed.
From an old Berlin private collection
The present censer has been inspired by Ming prototypes of similar decoration; see one attributed to the Xuande period (1426-35), but with a waisted neck, included in the Special Exhibition of Incense Burners and Perfumers Throughout the Dynasties, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1994, cat. no. 55. The form derives from ritual bronze ding vessels of the Shang and Zhou periods, but the traditional loop handles and cylindrical legs have been replaced with elephant heads. A similar example was sold at Sotheby's London, 12.5.1989, lot 525, another example, but with a leaf lotus ornament and the four-character mark "yu tang qing wan", was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 12. 5.1983, lot 266 - Minor wear, slightly chipped, small repair to handle

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