SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY (1127-1279)

The unusual form of the present censer, characterised by a bulbous lobed body supported on three short feet, is modelled after the archaic bronze li vessel. The thick, opaque crackled glaze and six small spur marks arranged in a circle on the underside of the current lot are typical of censers made at the Southern Song guan kilns in Hangzhou, such as a tripod censer excavated at the Laohudong guan kiln, potted with a more rounded body but with similar raised bands on the shoulder and six spur marks on the base, illustrated in Hangzhou laohudong yaozhi ciqi jingxuan, Hangzhou, 2002, no. 75.
Compare also to a guan bluish-celadon glazed censer, also with short cabriole feet and raised bands on the shoulder, dating to the Southern Song dynasty, in the Seikado Collection in Tokyo and illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 12, Song, Tokyo, 1977, pl. 76; and a ge tripod censer with long, straight feet, also bearing six circular spur marks on the underside, in the Palace Museum Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (II), Hong Kong, 1996, no. 153.