KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)

The tradition of using three elephant heads as the feet of bronze censers and braziers can be traced back to at least as far as the Xuande reign (1426 - 35). An example of a bronze censer with three large naturalistically formed elephant heads as feet, with a six-character Xuande mark and of the period, is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, illustrated in A Special Exhibition of Incense Burners and Perfumiers Throughout the Dynasties, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1994, p. 199, no. 54. A closely related cloisonné enamel censer of this shape with elephant-head feet and an openwork cover, dated to the Jingtai period (1450-1456), also in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, is illustrated in Masterworks of Chinese Enamel Ware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1971, p.3. Also compare to another cloisonné censer of this shape and with elephant-head feet but without the dragon handles, sold at Christie’s London, 8 November 2011, lot 65.