LATE MING DYNASTY, LATE 16TH-EARLY 17TH CENTURY

Porcelain articles of this type modelled in imitation of the distorted rocks placed in Chinese gardens, are variously known as bough or flower holders or incense burners. An example in blue and white in the Percival David Foundation, dated to the beginning of the 17th century, is illustrated by M. Beurdeley, The Chinese Collector through the Centuries, Rutland and Tokyo, 1966, p. 244, cat. no. 112. Other similar examples include a flower stand in the form of a garden rock, painted in green, red, yellow and brown, illustrated by B. Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1970, p. 251, no. 859; and another dated to the 16th century, described as an incense burner, illustrated by R. L. Hobson, B. Rackham and W. King, Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections, London, 1931, p. 170, fig. 310.