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Lot 263
A PART-GILT BRONZE LUDUAN CENSER
Estimated Value:
2.500 € - 3.500 €
Result:
7.122 € incl. Premium and VAT
Description:
China, Wanli periodH. 24,2 cm
The mythical beast is sturdily cast standing foursquare clutching a snake which zigzags across its feet. Its detachable singlehorned head is hinged from the front and is cast with with bulging eyes and its teeth bared. Its body is decorated with swirling scrolls highlighted in gilt and the details of its mane are finely incised. Weight: 1,431 kg
Collection of the Würzburg painter Joachim Schlotterbeck (1926-2007), sold Nagel, Stuttgart, 6.5.1995, lot 121 and acquired by the present owner
Luduan are mythical and auspicious creatures with strong lion bodies, a single horn and the paws of a bear. They are believed to have the ability to traverse vast distances and to master all languages, as well as foretelling the future, giving life to the good and killing evil. According to legend, they were originally known as ‘jiaoduan’, and their name changed to ‘luduan’ because the character for ‘lu’ matched their appearance better. Known as guardians of enlightened rulers, luduan were said to appear in areas where a wise and virtuous leader was present. The auspicious nature of luduan was particularly appropriate for the purpose of these censers. Cast with hinged or removable heads, they were made for burning incense and smoke would emerge from the beast’s mouth, animating and empowering the sculpture. As Chuimei Ho and Bennet Bronson note in their discussion of a pair of Qianlong cloisonné enamel examples from the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in the exhibition Splendors of China's Forbidden City. The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong, The Field Museum, Chicago, 2004, these burners were traditionally valued at the Imperial Court, as with their open mouths and smoke billowing forth, they were a reminder to the emperor
that he should always be receptive to honest advice (see p. 37). The origin of incense burners of this form is difficult to determine; an example attributed to the Song dynasty was recovered from the Ming dynasty tomb of the scholar-official Zhang Shupei (1552-1615) in Tonglian, Sichuan (Wenwu, 1989, no. 7, pp 45-
46, figs 14-16). Mythical beast incense burners however, became a popular model only from the Xuande period onwards. A censer in the form of a mythological animal was included in the painting ‘Enjoying Antiquities’ by Du Jin (ca. 1467-1505), where two scholars are depicted scrutinizing a selection of antiquities (illustrated in Through the Prism of the Past: Antiquarian Trends in Chinese Art of the 16th to 18th Century, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2003, cat. no. I-44). A drawing of a similar beast is
also published in the Shizu zhai jian pu (Ten Bamboo Studio Catalogue of Letter Paper Designs), a woodblock printed book of stationery papers from 1645, compiled by Hu Zhengyan and illustrated in Ip Yee and Laurence C.S. Tam, Chinese Bamboo Carving, vol. 1, Hong Kong, 1978, p. 179, fig. 15. Its popularity continued well into the Kangxi reign, when censers of this form were made in a variety of media, including porcelain, cloisonné enamel and bronze. For a Xuande period prototype of this form, see two censers sold at Sotheby‘s Hong Kong, the first from the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat collection, 8.4.2014, lot 233, and
the second, 8.10.2014, lot 3759. A very similar censer was sold at Christie’s London, 6.11.2018, lot 91 - The lid with few chips at the tips of the mane and small loss at the hinge
