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Lot Essay
Elaborate pagoda-shaped covers on censers were very popular at the Qing court, and can be seen on a number of columnar censers, which have been preserved in the Forbidden City and at the Shenyang Palace. Two cylindrical cloisonné censers with hexagonal double-eaved pagoda-shaped covers from the Forbidden City are illustrated in Splendors of China's Forbidden City - The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong, Merrell Publishers, London, 2004, p.48, no.34, where the authors note that they would have been placed near the throne and sandalwood incense would have been burned inside them. Censers of similar cylindrical type, but with pierced jade interiors can be seen in a photograph of the imperial throne in the main room of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, illustrated in the exhibition catalogue Secret World of the Forbidden City - Splendors from China's Imperial Palace, The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, Santa Ana, California, 2000, p.38. Another pair of hexagonal incense burners with pagoda-shaped covers, which were placed on side tables in the Nine Room Pavilion (The Pavilion of Continuing Thought), residence of the consorts who accompanied the Emperor Qianlong when he visited the Shenyang Palace, are illustrated in the exhibition catalogue Imperial Life in the Qing Dynasty, The Empress Place Museum, Singapore, 1989, p.67. A similar pair were sold in our New York Rooms as part of the sale from the C. Roxton and Audrey Love Collection 20th October 2004, lot 451.
An octagonal pagoda-shaped cover, of very similar style to the current example, is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji - Gongyi meishu bian 10 Jin yin boli falang qi, Wenwu chubanshe, Beijing, 1987, p.185, no.334. Like the current example, this pagoda is octagonal and has concentric lozenge designs on the roof sections, however, unlike the current cover, it has pierced doorways on each side, rather than alternate sides. The Beijing cover no longer has its base. It is mentioned that this pagoda was commissioned for Yang Xin Dian (Hall of Mental Cultivation) in the Forbidden City.
The shape of the current cloisonné censer, with globular body standing on three legs topped by monster masks, with elevated s-form handles, and with a pagoda-shaped cover, is also seen in large bronze censers, which still stand today in the Forbidden City. One such large censer stands in front of the First Gate of Heaven, and is illustrated in Palaces of the Forbidden City, Allen Lane/Penguin Books, London, 1984, p.125, pl.122-3. Smaller versions of the same form, but without the s-form handles, were also used in the Forbidden City as lanterns, and lanterns of this shape are still to be seen outside the Lijingxuan, which is one of the pavilions in the Palace of Concentrated Beauty, where the Tongzhi Emperor was born (illustrated by M. Holdsworth and C. Courtauld in The Forbidden City - The Great Within, Odyssey, Hong Kong, 1995, pp.66-7). Like that of the large bronze censer in front of the First Gate of Heaven, the tripod base of the current censer is decorated with a wealth of the kind of archaistic motifs that were so popular during the Qing dynasty. The most prominent of the motifs on the cloisonné censer are taotie masks and bi disks, while on the legs are kui dragons with bodies twisted into geometric forms, which match the dragons which appear on the solid walls of the pagoda cover. This vessel, therefore, takes its shape and decoration from a number of different sources, to create a spectacular result.
For further discussion about the archaistic decoration of the globular censer (with different types of taotie masks, bi disks and lions) refer to the footnote of lot 25.
An octagonal pagoda-shaped cover, of very similar style to the current example, is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji - Gongyi meishu bian 10 Jin yin boli falang qi, Wenwu chubanshe, Beijing, 1987, p.185, no.334. Like the current example, this pagoda is octagonal and has concentric lozenge designs on the roof sections, however, unlike the current cover, it has pierced doorways on each side, rather than alternate sides. The Beijing cover no longer has its base. It is mentioned that this pagoda was commissioned for Yang Xin Dian (Hall of Mental Cultivation) in the Forbidden City.
The shape of the current cloisonné censer, with globular body standing on three legs topped by monster masks, with elevated s-form handles, and with a pagoda-shaped cover, is also seen in large bronze censers, which still stand today in the Forbidden City. One such large censer stands in front of the First Gate of Heaven, and is illustrated in Palaces of the Forbidden City, Allen Lane/Penguin Books, London, 1984, p.125, pl.122-3. Smaller versions of the same form, but without the s-form handles, were also used in the Forbidden City as lanterns, and lanterns of this shape are still to be seen outside the Lijingxuan, which is one of the pavilions in the Palace of Concentrated Beauty, where the Tongzhi Emperor was born (illustrated by M. Holdsworth and C. Courtauld in The Forbidden City - The Great Within, Odyssey, Hong Kong, 1995, pp.66-7). Like that of the large bronze censer in front of the First Gate of Heaven, the tripod base of the current censer is decorated with a wealth of the kind of archaistic motifs that were so popular during the Qing dynasty. The most prominent of the motifs on the cloisonné censer are taotie masks and bi disks, while on the legs are kui dragons with bodies twisted into geometric forms, which match the dragons which appear on the solid walls of the pagoda cover. This vessel, therefore, takes its shape and decoration from a number of different sources, to create a spectacular result.
For further discussion about the archaistic decoration of the globular censer (with different types of taotie masks, bi disks and lions) refer to the footnote of lot 25.