Chinese lidded Censer/Incense Burner, Xuande mark (probably late Qing), 16cmH

  

Chinese Tripod Lidded Censer/Incense Burner, Xuande mark to base but probably late Qing, white metal over cast bronze, 16cm high (including lid). By family repute this censer was bought in China sometime between 1890 and 1922 and then came by descent to the vendor. The very finely detailed and well cast censer is intended as both a decorative and a practical object. If used as an incense burner it would have been part-filled with sand to hold the incense sticks or pastilles and then the scented smoke would emanate like clouds around the swirling dragons from the reticulated panels and lid.

The motif of the main body and the lid of the object are the dragons chasing the flaming pearl, while each of the tripod legs is mounted with the head of a mythical Shi-Shi lion-like beast (usually known in the West as'Dog of Fo' or'Lion of Fo'), the base of each leg terminates with a paw. The Two side handles are archaistic style chilong dragons. The censer is a finely made object. Culturally on the majority of later Chinese artefacts, the attribution to an earlier reign was intended as a mark of respect, a recognition of the importance of past history rather than being an attempt at deception; this is the case with this censer which does not entirely conform to Ming style and which is more stylistically representative of Qing works.

This item is in the category "Antiques\Asian/Oriental Antiques\Chinese\Other Chinese". The seller is "psort1" and is located in this country: GB. This item can be shipped to United Kingdom, Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Republic of Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Australia, United States, Bahrain, Canada, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, China, Israel, Hong Kong, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Barbados, Brunei Darussalam, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Grenada, French Guiana, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Liechtenstein, Sri Lanka, Macau, Monaco, Maldives, Montserrat, Martinique, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Paraguay, Reunion, Turks and Caicos Islands, Aruba, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Chile, Bahamas, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Kuwait, Panama, Philippines, Qatar, El Salvador, Trinidad and Tobago, Vietnam.

1. Antique: Yes
2. Region of Origin: Chinese
3. Country of Origin: China
4. Sub-Type: Lidded Censer/Incense Burner
5. Product: Incense Burner
6. Primary Material: Bronze
7. Original/Repro: Antique Original
8. Features: Reticulated panels
9. Chinese Dynasty: Late Qing (circa 1900)