Lot 86
86
AN UNUSUAL MASSIVE 'FOREIGNERS' BRONZE CENSER
AN UNUSUAL MASSIVE 'FOREIGNERS' BRONZE CENSER
AN UNUSUAL MASSIVE 'FOREIGNERS' BRONZE CENSER
AN UNUSUAL MASSIVE 'FOREIGNERS' BRONZE CENSER
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PROPERTY OF A EUROPEAN COLLECTOR
AN UNUSUAL MASSIVE 'FOREIGNERS' BRONZE CENSER

17TH CENTURY

Details
AN UNUSUAL MASSIVE 'FOREIGNERS' BRONZE CENSER
17TH CENTURY
The rectangular censer has loop ring handles to either end that are held by two finely cast bearded, barefoot foreigners with curly, coiffed hair, dressed in loose-fitting trousers. They are cast leaning back on ther heels, their toes slightly raised off the ground, their facial features finely detailed.
25 ½ in. (65 cm.) wide

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Lot Essay

The foreigners are readily identifiable by their clothes and distinctive facial features. Foreigners were often represented in Chinese art during the 17th and 18th centuries reflecting a fascination with all things foreign at this time. A hand scroll in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrates many figures described as being from the West whose attributes are discussed in both Chinese and Manchu. See Splendors of a Flourishing Age, Macau, 1999, no. 42. The present lot may be compared with a similar 'foreigners' censer sold at Christie's New York, 14-15 September 2017, lot 925.

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