Page 46 - CHRISTIE'S Marchant Nine Decades of Chinese Art 09/14/17
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MARCHANT: NINE DECADES IN CHINESE ART
708 AN EXCEPTIONAL LARGE PARCEL- This impressive censer is of an unusually large size and weight,
GILT-BRONZE TRIPOD CENSER and is notable for its exceptional cast decoration, all of which
speak to production standards of the highest level. The dragons
XUANDE YUANNIAN MARK, CORRESPONDING TO 1426, are powerfully cast in high relief and further highlighted with
MING DYNASTY, 15TH-17TH CENTURY gilding, and writhe through the fnely-detailed cloud scrolls
with an unusual grace and energy. The contrast between the
The heavy, drum-form censer is fnely cast in high relief vivacity of the high-relief dragons and cloud scrolls with the
around the body with three four-clawed dragons writhing simplicity of the loop handles and the bosses punctuating
amid cloud scrolls and fames in pursuit of faming pearls, all the upper and lower bands creates a most refned and
highlighted with gilding, between two rows of raised bosses. harmonious vessel.
Two loop handles rise from the rim, and the three cabriole
feet are each cast and gilt with a pearl and cloud scrolls. The Such sophisticated and powerful high-relief casting on a bronze
underside is further cast and gilt with two dragons encircling a censer is very rare, and very few examples can compare to the
faming pearl, beneath the incised ten-character inscription Da present example. However, a bronze censer with related highly-
Ming Xuande yuannian Wuyingdian yong (Made for use in the cast and boldly-rendered dragons dated “probably Xuande
Wuying Hall during the frst year of the Xuande period of the period” was included in the Oriental Ceramic Society, Hong
Ming Dynasty). Kong, exhibition Arts from the Scholar’s Studio, and illustrated
12 in. (30.5 cm.) diam. in the Catalogue, Hong Kong, 1986, no. 139. Another bronze
censer similar to the example cited above from the exhibition
$70,000-90,000 at the Oriental Ceramic Society, Hong Kong, with a Xuande
mark and of the period, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong,
PROVENANCE 30 May 2016, lot 3009.
Private collection, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.
明十五/十七世紀 銅局部鎏金雲龍戲珠紋大
鼓式爐 《大明宣德元年武英殿用》楷書刻款
44 (detail of base)
