LATE MING DYNASTY, 17TH CENTURY

The form of this censer is inspired by ritual gui food vessels of the early Western Zhou period, 11th-10th century BC, such as the example decorated with a band of bosses on the body sold at Christie’s New York, 17 March 2017, lot 1005. Other jade gui-form censers dating to the Ming dynasty include an example decorated with taotie masks in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and one decorated with vertical ribs in the Tianjin Museum, both illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji, Sui, Tang, Ming, vol. 5, Hebei, 1994, pp. 162-3, nos. 237-8, respectively. See, also, the jade gui-from censer dated to the Ming dyansty with very similar dragon-head handles with short vertical notches, from the Michael D. Stevenson Collection, sold at Christie’s London, 6 November 2012, lot 202.