Page 127 - China's Renaissance in Bronze, The Robert H.CIague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

HIS CYLINDRICAL ZUN-SHAPED CENSER stands on three evenly
spaced cabriole legs, its straight sides tapering slightly at the bottom
T to soften the transition from vertical walls to flat, horizontal base.
Triple-rib bands border the top and bottom of the bowl, while a third band
at the midsection divides the surface into two horizontal registers that
feature designs engraved in fine lines; a pattern of birds in flight amidst
clouds embellishes the upper register while a composite floral scroll orna-
ments the lower one. A spray of foliage enlivens the bulbous portion of
each cabriole leg. The gently rounded lip echoes the plain band at the
bottom of the bowl. The unornamented base has at its center a cast mark
in six kaishu (standard-script) characters arranged in three columns of two
characters each within a recessed rectangular cartouche. The interior of
the bowl is undecorated, as are the backs and lower portions of the legs.
Chemically induced after casting, the dark brown surfaces conceal the brassy
color of the metal.
Though spurious, the mark on this censer, like that on the previous
one, establishes a link to the Xuande bronze tradition. In fact, Xuande yiqi
tupu pictures a censer similar to this one, which it terms a jiuyuan sanji lu,
1
a reference to the nine rings arranged in three bands. Like the Clague piece,
the illustrated censer has three cabriole legs and three sets of triple-rib
bands about its cylindrical bowl; differing from the Clague example, it
lacks pictorial decoration; its triple bands seem to comprise concave rings
rather than relief ribs, and its lowest band of ribs appears a bit higher on
the body, thus avoiding interruption by the cabriole legs. More importantly,
the notes following the illustration state that the Xuande censer had a
mottled surface dappled with cinnabar red and sprinkled with gold and
silver 'raindrops and snowflakes.' The comments further indicate that the
Xuande censer was furnished with a stand and cover of zitan wood, the
cover with a ch//ong-shaped knob of white jade. 2
The name given this censer type in Xuande yiqi tupu, that is, jiuyuan
sanji lu (literally, nine-origins, three-poles censer), employs terms appropri-
ated from the Yijing, or Book of Changes, and its commentaries, indicating
that by Ming times its ribs were likened to the Yijing's diagrams. 3 (Doubt-
less playful rather than serious, such an association is consistent with the Ming
interest in visual puns and double entendres.)The liuyao or quintessential
hexagram from the Yijing, comprises two trigrams, the male qian (represen-
ting heaven), which consists of three continuous lines = , and the female kun
(representing earth), which consists of three interrupted lines = = .The com-
mentary on the Yijing notes that although the total number of lines in the

T I I E R O B E R T II. C L A G U E C O L L E C T I O N 1 2