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Lot Essay
Incense stands of similar shape from the Ming and early Qing dynasty are more commonly made of lacquered softwood material. Four similarly shaped lacquer xiangji are in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, 2002, nos. 162, 165, 166 and 169. However, examples made of hardwood or huanghuali from this period are exceptionally rare. One similarly shaped huanghuali censer stand from the late Ming–early Qing period is illustrated by Wang Shixiang in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture. Ming and Early Qing dynasties, Vol. II, p.75, fig. B26., now in the MQJ Collection, illustrated by Grace Wu Bruce in Two Decades of Ming Furniture, Beijing, 2010, p. 20-21 (fig. 1). Compared with the present xiangji, the circular incense stand published by Wang Shixiang has a more narrow waist and five sharply inward-curving legs resting on small ball-shaped rests. A smaller five-legged round incense stand (61 cm high) from the Gangolf Geis Collection was sold at Christie’s New York, 18 September 2003, lot 55 (fig. 2), and again at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 11 July 2020, lot 127. Compared with the present xiangji, the stand from the Geis collection also has five less curved cabriole legs terminating in upward curling tendril and ball feet.
The elegant slender legs of less inward-curving form on the present xiangji can also be compared to a three-legged huanghuali circular incense stand, formerly in the collection of Wang Shixiang, illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture, Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, Chicago, 1986, p. 125, no. 72, and now in the collection of the Shanghai Museum. The pair to the incense stand in the Shanghai Museum, previously in the collection of Marie Theresa L. Virata Collection of Asian Art was sold at Christie’s New York, 16 March 2017, lot 613 (fig. 3).
Curtis Evarts:
The incense stand is perhaps the least secular of all furniture types. It traditionally served as a small altar for offering incense, but was also used to display sculptural stones, potted landscapes, and flower arrangements; at night it could be drawn up near the bed to support a candlelight. As a medium for the mystical and sacred dimensions of ancient Chinese culture, they are also one of the most artistically inspired forms.
The Tseng Collection incense stand displays a synthesis of an early traditional high-waisted style with the Qing period aesthetics of elegance and refinement. The art of line and space is apparent in the ‘dragonfly legs’ (qingting tui) and arched aprons that frame elongated spatial openings resembling lotus petals.
This incense stand also has several unique characteristics. Firstly, the top and base are both fashioned from solid material—the solid mass at top and bottom providing a striking contrast to the light and airy space in between. Secondly, the design retains archaic elements of high-waist, skirt-style apron and scrolled foot, but the original expressive styles of these elements have all been subdued with streamlining and appear only as subtle decorative enhancements to the overall elegant form. It is truly a masterpiece of conception and realization.
Since its appearance in publications and exhibitions, this round huanghuali incense stand has become an iconic work and has been used as model for countless reproductions.
The Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture acquired this piece from the Hong Kong dealer Peter Lai Antiques in 1989, and it has been in the Tseng Collection since 1996.
The elegant slender legs of less inward-curving form on the present xiangji can also be compared to a three-legged huanghuali circular incense stand, formerly in the collection of Wang Shixiang, illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture, Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, Chicago, 1986, p. 125, no. 72, and now in the collection of the Shanghai Museum. The pair to the incense stand in the Shanghai Museum, previously in the collection of Marie Theresa L. Virata Collection of Asian Art was sold at Christie’s New York, 16 March 2017, lot 613 (fig. 3).
Curtis Evarts:
The incense stand is perhaps the least secular of all furniture types. It traditionally served as a small altar for offering incense, but was also used to display sculptural stones, potted landscapes, and flower arrangements; at night it could be drawn up near the bed to support a candlelight. As a medium for the mystical and sacred dimensions of ancient Chinese culture, they are also one of the most artistically inspired forms.
The Tseng Collection incense stand displays a synthesis of an early traditional high-waisted style with the Qing period aesthetics of elegance and refinement. The art of line and space is apparent in the ‘dragonfly legs’ (qingting tui) and arched aprons that frame elongated spatial openings resembling lotus petals.
This incense stand also has several unique characteristics. Firstly, the top and base are both fashioned from solid material—the solid mass at top and bottom providing a striking contrast to the light and airy space in between. Secondly, the design retains archaic elements of high-waist, skirt-style apron and scrolled foot, but the original expressive styles of these elements have all been subdued with streamlining and appear only as subtle decorative enhancements to the overall elegant form. It is truly a masterpiece of conception and realization.
Since its appearance in publications and exhibitions, this round huanghuali incense stand has become an iconic work and has been used as model for countless reproductions.
The Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture acquired this piece from the Hong Kong dealer Peter Lai Antiques in 1989, and it has been in the Tseng Collection since 1996.