A large bronze archaistic tripod incense burner, Mark and period...
Property from an Important Collection
A large bronze archaistic tripod incense burner,
Mark and period of Qianlong
顯赫收藏
清乾隆 銅仿古夔龍紋朝冠耳三足大香爐 《大清乾隆年造》款、「一百七十斤」字
the interior inscribed with five characters reading yibai qishi jin (one hundred and seventy catties), the galleried mouth centred with a recessed rectangular cartouche enclosing a six-character Qianlong nian zao mark
h. 51 cm
Catalogue Note:
This censer is striking for its large size, imposing mask-form feet and unusual geometric design of chilong. By drawing from the past and combining it with modern designs with technical mastery, the result is an arresting statement of the power and grandeur of the Qianlong era. The form derives from an ancient ritual bronze prototype, ding, of the Eastern Zhou period. A heightened sense of dynamism is achieved through the elongated handles that extend dramatically in an S-curve from the globular body, a feature that first appeared in the Song dynasty. The curves of the form and fierce masks that form the legs provide an attractive contrast with the straight lines and sharp angles of the design.
Censers such as the present example comprised part of a five-piece altar garniture and would have created an impressive scene during ritual ceremonies, thus emphasizing the importance and solemnity of such events. These garnitures were produced for specific temples in the Imperial Palace and were generally commissioned as tributes to the emperor. In addition to the censer, a complete set would comprise two pear-shaped vases derived from archaic hu vases, and two candlesticks. A pair of vases decorated with the same designs of geometric scrolls and ruyi bands at the base of the neck and foot respectively, flanked with dragon scroll handles, was offered at Christie’s New York, 17th September 2008, lot 601; and another single vase was offered in our London rooms, 9th November 2016, lot 138. Compare also another Qianlong mark and period censer of related form, but supported on lion-mask feet and cast with bands of geometric scrolls, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3rd June 2015, lot 3118.
Qianlong mark and period censers of this type are known cast with dragons; see two illustrated in situ in a shrine in the Hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple and Hall of Ancestral Worship, published in Wan Yi, Qingdai gongting shenghuo / Daily Life in the Forbidden City, Hong Kong, 1985, New York, 1988, pls 473 and 474; and another sold at Christie’s New York, 16th September 2016, lot 1227.
Complete garniture sets include a much larger set decorated with dragons, illustrated ibid., pl. 467, in situ in the Xianruo Temple, located in the garden of Cininggong (Palace of Compassion and Tranquility) where the empress and consorts conducted Buddhist religious ceremonies; another sold in these rooms, 11th April 2008, lot 2826; and a set in the Robert H. Clague collection, now in the Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, included in the museum's exhibition China’s Renaissance in Bronze, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, 1994, cat. no. 38.
Ritual vessels of this type were also decorated with phoenix instead of dragons, indicating that they may have been commissioned as a tribute to the Qianlong emperor’s mother. See a bronze altar vase, from the Alfred Morrison collection, sold at Christie’s London, 9th November 2004, lot 17; and another pair of imperial bronze vessels cast with dragons and phoenix sold three times in these rooms and most recently 9th October 2007, lot 1322.
本品爐，器形碩大，穩健端重，朝冠耳線條流暢，剛健有力，怒獸銜足，莊重威嚴，鑄工精良，技藝嫻熟，取源東周青銅鼎，一息尚古之氣猶存，彰顯乾隆一朝之繁榮盛世。
本品銅爐，應為佛教五供之一，用於儀式祭典，肅正莊嚴。此類器應為宮中佛寺而鑄，多為御貢之器，除爐外，全套五供另包括瓶及燭臺各一對。參考一對瓶例，紋飾相類，龍耳活環，上拍於紐約佳士得2008年9月17日，編號601；另見一單瓶例，上拍於倫敦蘇富比2016年11月9日，編號138。亦可參考一相類乾隆爐例，獅足，飾幾何紋，售香港佳士得2015年6月3日，編號3118。
此類乾隆香爐，亦見飾龍紋者。參考兩例，藏太廟及奉先殿，載圖攝於該地，錄於萬依，《清代宮廷生活》，香港，1985年，紐約，1988年，圖版473及474；另見一例，售紐約佳士得2016年9月16日，編號1227。
參考一全套五供例，飾龍紋，同上註，圖版467，載圖攝於慈寧宮咸若館，為后妃禮佛之所；另見一例，售香港蘇富比2008年4月11日，編號2826；再見一套，出自 Robert H. Clague 收藏，現寶蓄鳳凰城美術館，錄《China’s Renaissance in Bronze》，鳳凰城美術館，鳳凰城，1994年，編號38。
Provenance:
Sotheby's New York, 15th March 2017, lot 538.
紐約蘇富比2017年3月15日，編號538
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Property from an Important Collection
A large bronze archaistic tripod incense burner,
Mark and period of Qianlong
顯赫收藏
清乾隆 銅仿古夔龍紋朝冠耳三足大香爐 《大清乾隆年造》款、「一百七十斤」字
the interior inscribed with five characters reading yibai qishi jin (one hundred and seventy catties), the galleried mouth centred with a recessed rectangular cartouche enclosing a six-character Qianlong nian zao mark
h. 51 cm
Catalogue Note:
This censer is striking for its large size, imposing mask-form feet and unusual geometric design of chilong. By drawing from the past and combining it with modern designs with technical mastery, the result is an arresting statement of the power and grandeur of the Qianlong era. The form derives from an ancient ritual bronze prototype, ding, of the Eastern Zhou period. A heightened sense of dynamism is achieved through the elongated handles that extend dramatically in an S-curve from the globular body, a feature that first appeared in the Song dynasty. The curves of the form and fierce masks that form the legs provide an attractive contrast with the straight lines and sharp angles of the design.
Censers such as the present example comprised part of a five-piece altar garniture and would have created an impressive scene during ritual ceremonies, thus emphasizing the importance and solemnity of such events. These garnitures were produced for specific temples in the Imperial Palace and were generally commissioned as tributes to the emperor. In addition to the censer, a complete set would comprise two pear-shaped vases derived from archaic hu vases, and two candlesticks. A pair of vases decorated with the same designs of geometric scrolls and ruyi bands at the base of the neck and foot respectively, flanked with dragon scroll handles, was offered at Christie’s New York, 17th September 2008, lot 601; and another single vase was offered in our London rooms, 9th November 2016, lot 138. Compare also another Qianlong mark and period censer of related form, but supported on lion-mask feet and cast with bands of geometric scrolls, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3rd June 2015, lot 3118.
Qianlong mark and period censers of this type are known cast with dragons; see two illustrated in situ in a shrine in the Hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple and Hall of Ancestral Worship, published in Wan Yi, Qingdai gongting shenghuo / Daily Life in the Forbidden City, Hong Kong, 1985, New York, 1988, pls 473 and 474; and another sold at Christie’s New York, 16th September 2016, lot 1227.
Complete garniture sets include a much larger set decorated with dragons, illustrated ibid., pl. 467, in situ in the Xianruo Temple, located in the garden of Cininggong (Palace of Compassion and Tranquility) where the empress and consorts conducted Buddhist religious ceremonies; another sold in these rooms, 11th April 2008, lot 2826; and a set in the Robert H. Clague collection, now in the Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, included in the museum's exhibition China’s Renaissance in Bronze, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, 1994, cat. no. 38.
Ritual vessels of this type were also decorated with phoenix instead of dragons, indicating that they may have been commissioned as a tribute to the Qianlong emperor’s mother. See a bronze altar vase, from the Alfred Morrison collection, sold at Christie’s London, 9th November 2004, lot 17; and another pair of imperial bronze vessels cast with dragons and phoenix sold three times in these rooms and most recently 9th October 2007, lot 1322.
本品爐，器形碩大，穩健端重，朝冠耳線條流暢，剛健有力，怒獸銜足，莊重威嚴，鑄工精良，技藝嫻熟，取源東周青銅鼎，一息尚古之氣猶存，彰顯乾隆一朝之繁榮盛世。
本品銅爐，應為佛教五供之一，用於儀式祭典，肅正莊嚴。此類器應為宮中佛寺而鑄，多為御貢之器，除爐外，全套五供另包括瓶及燭臺各一對。參考一對瓶例，紋飾相類，龍耳活環，上拍於紐約佳士得2008年9月17日，編號601；另見一單瓶例，上拍於倫敦蘇富比2016年11月9日，編號138。亦可參考一相類乾隆爐例，獅足，飾幾何紋，售香港佳士得2015年6月3日，編號3118。
此類乾隆香爐，亦見飾龍紋者。參考兩例，藏太廟及奉先殿，載圖攝於該地，錄於萬依，《清代宮廷生活》，香港，1985年，紐約，1988年，圖版473及474；另見一例，售紐約佳士得2016年9月16日，編號1227。
參考一全套五供例，飾龍紋，同上註，圖版467，載圖攝於慈寧宮咸若館，為后妃禮佛之所；另見一例，售香港蘇富比2008年4月11日，編號2826；再見一套，出自 Robert H. Clague 收藏，現寶蓄鳳凰城美術館，錄《China’s Renaissance in Bronze》，鳳凰城美術館，鳳凰城，1994年，編號38。
Provenance:
Sotheby's New York, 15th March 2017, lot 538.
紐約蘇富比2017年3月15日，編號538
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Time, Location
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