A VERY RARE LARGE GOLD-SPLASHED BRONZE INCENSE BURNER FOR THE ISLAMIC MARKET, GUI

Xuande mark, 17th/18th century

Xuande mark, 17th/18th century
The deep vessel with rounded sided gently curving inwards and rising to the flaring rim, the upper body crisply cast around the exterior with a broad band of taotie masks flanked by stylised dragons and birds reserved on diaper grounds, above a raised inscription in Arabic to each side, reading: lā ʾilāha ʾillā -llāh, muḥammadun rasūlu llāh ('There is no God but God, and Muhammad is the Prophet of God'), flanked by a pair of C-form handles issuing from dragon heads, raised on a stepped spreading foot with raised bow-strings, the recessed base cast with an apocryphal Xuande twelve-character seal mark reading: Xuande ernian Zhou Yi wei Xiuhuang Zhuren Zhi, 'Made by Zhou Yi for the master of Xiuhuang in the second year of the Xuande reign', all decorated with irregular gold splashes continuing onto the interior rim and over the underside. 30cm (11 3/4in) wide across the handles.

十七/十八世紀 灑金仿古夔龍紋阿拉伯文簋
「宣德二年周義為修篁主人製」篆書款

Provenance:
Parry Collection, London, and thence by descent

來源：
倫敦Parry家族收藏，並由後人保存迄今

The present lot is remarkable for its combination of cultural inspirations, although both for religious purposes. The gui form and the archaistic design around the upper section and handles, were inspired by archaic bronze ritual vessels, which were made during the Shang and Zhou dynasties for sacrificial purposes to the ancestors.

The prayer inscription on the lower register of the vessel is the Shahadah, one of the most important Muslim oaths or prayers. It is interesting to note, however, that the word rasul (Prophet) has been misspelled on each side of the vessel, most likely as a misinterpretation of the Arabic by the craftsmen in China.

Bronze vessels with Arabic inscriptions were produced for the Chinese domestic market, for use both by foreign Muslims living in China and by the large population of Chinese Muslims. Chinese decorative arts with Arabic inscriptions range in date from the sixteenth century, with the majority made from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. A number of Arabic-inscribed gold-splashed bronze wares collected by Randolph Berens, alongside other gold-splashed bronze wares of various forms as well as figures, were exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London in 1915, and published by E.Mew, 'Gold-splash Bronzes in the Collection of Mr. Randolph Berens', The Connoisseur, November 1915, pp.131-144, pls.10,11, 13, and 19.

The 'gold-splashed' decoration was achieved by 'fire-gilding', a technique involving the application of gold in the form of a mercury/gold amalgam. Subsequently the vessel was heated to drive off the mercury, so that the small amount of gold was left adhering to the base metal. The process could then be repeated several times to build up thicker layers of gold.

For an identical form incense burner but without the Arabic inscription, see Christie's Hong Kong, 4 October 2016, lot 50. For a large gold splashed bronze incense burner, 18th century, but with a different Arabic prayer, see Sotheby's Hong Kong, 30 October 2002, lot 350. Compare also a gold-splashed archaistic bronze censer, 17th/18th century, with the same Xuande mark as the present lot, which was sold at Sotheby's New York, 13 September 2017, lot 142.

圓身深腹，近口沿處微斂，口沿微侈，龍首形環耳，附珥，下承弦紋圈足。器壁上部以精鑄錦地饕餮紋為飾，饕餮兩側為風格化之龍紋及鳳鳥紋，線條優雅俐落。

本例造型以及器身上部復古紋樣均源自商周二代用於祭祀之青銅重器，而器壁下部所鑄阿拉伯銘文，意為「萬物非主，唯有真主，穆罕默德是真主的使者」，是穆斯林最為重要的禱詞之一。值得注意的是，器身兩側「先知」一詞均有誤，應為不熟悉阿拉伯文的中國工匠的所作。如此結合古代禮器與伊斯蘭宗教用器，文化意藴十分令人矚目。

十七、十八世紀的中國內陸有大量來自海外或本地的穆斯林族群，這些帶有阿拉伯文銘文的銅器即為滿足其需要而生產。從十六世紀起，帶有阿拉伯文銘文的中國裝飾藝術品逐漸出現，但傳世物中多見十七至十九世紀的作品。 1915年，倫敦維多利亞和阿爾伯特博物館曾展出一批帶阿拉伯文銘文灑金銅器以及其他造型的灑金銅器，皆出自Randolph Berens私人收藏，見E.Mew著，〈Gold-splash Bronzes in the Collection of Mr. Randolph Berens〉，收錄於《The Connoisseur》，1915年11月，頁131-144，圖版10、11、13與19。

灑金是以所謂「火鍍金」工藝形成，即以金溶於水銀之中，形成金泥，塗於銅或銀表面加溫，使水銀蒸發令金飾附於器表，再重複該過程形成更厚的金飾層。

與本拍品造型相似者，可參考香港佳士得於2016年10月4日售出一件清初灑金銅龍紋簋式爐，拍品編號60，惟器身無阿拉伯文銘文。另一帶有阿拉伯文禱詞之例，則可見一例十八世紀銅灑金仿古香爐，售於香港蘇富比，2002年10月30日，拍品編號350。本品之款識亦可參見紐約蘇富比於2017年9月13日所售出一件十七/十八世紀銅灑金饕餮紋簋式爐，拍品編號142。