18TH CENTURY

Details

A black lacquer mother-of-pearl inlaid incense stand, xiangji
18th Century
Of elegant form, the cinquefoil top inlaid with numerous figures in front of a pavilion with others looking out of the window, above a high waist pierced with four shaped apertures, the curved apron with bird catouches on a trellis-pattern ground, supported on four cabriole legs terminating in upturned scrolling feet set on a circular base with a similar decoration to the top, some losses and retouches
43 cm. high, the top 28 cm. diam,

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Lot Essay

Although square or rectangular stands are more economical to produce, the round incense stand may be placed alone in the center of a room or garden courtyard to be admired from all sides. The 'cabriole leg,' a French-derived term, was adopted by the West to describe the elegant curve of what the Chinese had long known as the 'elephant trunk,' 'praying mantis leg,' or 'dragonfly leg' form. By any name, many scholars believe the shape to have been transmitted to the West during the late 17th/early 18th centuries, as discussed in Wang Shixiang and C. Evarts, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, p. 110.

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