A ROUGE-ENAMELED TRIPOD CENSER

QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN PUCE ENAMEL IN A LINE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Details

A ROUGE-ENAMELED TRIPOD CENSER
QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN PUCE ENAMEL IN A LINE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
The bulbous body is decorated in bright rouge with the Eight Buddhist Emblems (bajixiang) surrounded by lotus scroll, with further lotus scroll on the legs and waisted neck which is flanked by a pair of pierced, upright handles decorated on both sides with foliate scroll, and key fret on the narrow sides. The sides of the thick rim are decorated with further key fret interrupted by a panel enclosing the nianhao and the top with classic scroll. The interior is covered in turquoise enamel.
14 3/8 in. (36.5 cm.) high, wood cover

Lot Essay

Incense burners of this type were made as part of a five-piece altar garniture, in which the censer is flanked by two gu-shaped vases and two candlesticks. For a Qianlong garniture set decorated with the bajixiang on a red ground, see the Special Exhibition of Incense Burners and Perfumers throughout the Dynasties, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1994, no. 105; and for a Qianlong tripod censer with the bajixiang on a white ground, see ibid. no. 120.

The use of just one color of enamel (in this case rouge enamel) on a plain white ground is unusual, and few examples appear to be published. However, a Qianlong-marked, rouge-enameled tripod censer with dragons is illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art - Chinese Ceramics IV - Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, no. 177. Compare, also, a censer similar to the present lot sold at Bonhams London, 7 November 2013, lot 174.

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