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Lot Essay
The hemispherical body, handles and flattened legs of this censer are based on bronze tripod censers of Shang dynasty date, like the ones illustrated by Robert W. Bagley in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1987, pp. 448-51, figs. 80.2-80.4, no. 81 and fig. 81.1. Another cloisonné enamel censer of this type, in the Qing Court Collection, dated to middle Ming dynasty, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 43 - Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 45, no. 43.
Stylistically, the Buddhist lion decoration on this tripod vessel is similar to that seen on a bowl dated to the mid-16th century, which has a six-character Jiajing (1522-67) mark incised on the base, illustrated by Bèatrice Quette (ed.), in Cloisonné: Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, Bard Graduate Center, 2011, p. 302, no. 151. Similar decoration can also be seen on a cloisonné enamel jar in the Qing Court Collection illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 43 - Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, p. 41, no. 39, which has a Jingtai four-character mark, and is dated to middle Ming dynasty.
Stylistically, the Buddhist lion decoration on this tripod vessel is similar to that seen on a bowl dated to the mid-16th century, which has a six-character Jiajing (1522-67) mark incised on the base, illustrated by Bèatrice Quette (ed.), in Cloisonné: Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, Bard Graduate Center, 2011, p. 302, no. 151. Similar decoration can also be seen on a cloisonné enamel jar in the Qing Court Collection illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 43 - Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, p. 41, no. 39, which has a Jingtai four-character mark, and is dated to middle Ming dynasty.