Page 189 - China's Renaissance in Bronze, The Robert H.CIague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

D/ng-shaped censers in bronze and ceramic ware were embellished
with dragons by the Song and Yuan periods. 24 The presentation of the
principal dragon with its face shown frontally and its coiled body shown in
profile signals the Qianlong date of this altar set, 25 as do the dragon's
rectangular face, square jaw, and humanlike nose; such features appear in
most Qianlong-era representations of dragons. 26 Both the style of the
dragons and the relatively small number of clouds (compared to those on
later Qianlong bronzes) 27 indicate that this altar set was made early in the
reign, probably before 1750, a dating that accords with the calligraphic style
of the reign mark.
The integrally cast mark on the base of the censer reading Da Qing
Qianlongnian zhi indicates that this altar set was made during the Qianlong
reign. Its characters modeled on those in woodblock-printed books, the
thread-relief mark is like those on Yongzheng bronzes [see 37], though the
lack of a thick, ornamental flourish at the right end of the horizontal strokes
distinguishes its characters from ones in both Yongzheng marks and printed
books. The connection to Yongzheng marks suggests a date of manufacture
early in the reign, before the mature Qianlong style had evolved. Marks
on large bronzes produced later in the reign typically have characters boldly
written with thick strokes [see 39]; in addition, such marks often appear
prominently placed on the vessel lip and they often use zao (created) as
the final character rather than zhi (made). 28
The five bronzes in this set were cast, though all have attached parts
and show extensive evidence of cold working. 29 The decorative motifs
were selectively worked with hammer and chisel after casting to define
form and to articulate detail, giving them the crispness associated with
the carved red lacquers on which they are modeled.

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