Lot Essay
The very fine gilt speckling throughout the reddish-brown patina on this censer is traditionally referred to as ‘golden rain’ or ‘golden mist’.
It is rare to find a bronze censer with upright handles raised on a petal-form stand, however, a gilt-splashed example dated to the Kangxi-Qianlong period (1662-1795) was included in the exhibition, Later Chinese Bronzes: The Saint Louis Art Museum and Robert E. Kresko Collections, Saint Louis, 2008, p. 137, no. 28. Another Xuande-marked incense burner and stand of this form, decorated with gold splashes, is illustrated by G. Tsang and H. Moss in Arts from the Scholar’s Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, pp. 150-51, no. 123, where the authors provide a lengthy discussion of the history of this type of bronze incense burner.
It is rare to find a bronze censer with upright handles raised on a petal-form stand, however, a gilt-splashed example dated to the Kangxi-Qianlong period (1662-1795) was included in the exhibition, Later Chinese Bronzes: The Saint Louis Art Museum and Robert E. Kresko Collections, Saint Louis, 2008, p. 137, no. 28. Another Xuande-marked incense burner and stand of this form, decorated with gold splashes, is illustrated by G. Tsang and H. Moss in Arts from the Scholar’s Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, pp. 150-51, no. 123, where the authors provide a lengthy discussion of the history of this type of bronze incense burner.