TANG DYNASTY (618-907)

Details

A CHASED COPPER HAND-HELD INCENSE BURNER AND COVER
Tang dynasty (618-907)
The censer formed as a stemcup-shaped receptacle, the long handle connected to the mid-section of the stem-foot, arched along the exterior contour of the censer before extending into a straight line, set at a right-angle to form the handle, and terminating in a circular base, the hinged domed pierced cover surmounted by a bud finial, the surfaces delicately chased with lotus and scrolling foliage on a ring-punched ground
4 in. (10.2 cm.) high

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

Acquired in December 1989.
Compare the example from the Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst, illustrated in Ausgewählte Werke Ostasiatischer Kunst, Berlin, 1970, no. 74.

These long-handled censers were common in China during the Tang period. Their symbolic and ritual importance is reflected on banner paintings
from Dunhuang, where portraits of priests and Bodhisattvas are depicted holding censers of this type in their hands.

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