A MASSIVE GILT-BRONZE AND CLOISONNE ENAMEL TRIPOD BRAZIER AND COVERCHINA, QING DYNASTY, JIAQING PERIOD (1796-1820)

Censers were decorative art objects of the highest quality in China, but they were also made to be used. The most convenient form of heating in houses and palaces was by using braziers. Beijing for example, gets very cold in winter and the limited under-floor heating, few stoves and heated kang were not sufficient to keep the inhabitants even moderately warm. The braziers ranged from magnificent multi-tiered cloisonné enamel vessels mostly standing on animal heads, to simple cages of the size of a water melon. Heating was supposed to commence on "Stove lighting Day" - the first day of the eleventh lunar month.
Compare this piece to a pair of braziers from the same period sold in our Amsterdam Rooms, 2 May 2007, lot 422