Page 481 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China
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                                                                          Openwork parcel-gilt silver censer
                                                                                            5
                                                                          Length of chain  17.7 (9 /8), diam. of censer  5.8 (5)
                                                                          Tang Dynasty, ninth century CE
                                                                          From the  pagoda  of the  Famen Monastery at  Fufeng,
                                                                          Shaanxi Province
                                                                          Famensi Museum, Fufeng, Shaanxi Province


                                                                          Two of the  censers  found in the  Famen Monastery
                                                                          pagoda  deposit  are spherical in shape, each  sus-
                                                                          pended  from  a hook by means of a chain  and  swivel.
                                                                          Both of them are recorded  in the  inventory stele as
                                                                          having been  donated  by Emperor Sizong in  874.
                                                                          They were found  stored  inside the  parcel-gilt silver
                                                                                          !
                                                                          tea basket  (cat. 165).  The larger of the  two is  12.8
                                                                          centimeters  in diameter, not  as large as the pair
                                                                          preserved in the  Shoso-in Treasury in Japan (each
                                                                          18 centimeters  in diameter), but  larger than  most
                                                                          other known examples from  the  Tang dynasty: two
                                                                          excavated  from  Xi'an are each  only 4.8 centimeters
                                                                                    2
                                                                          in diameter.  Four have been  excavated from  the
                                                                          same area, and others  are in private  collections
                                                                          around the world.
                                                                             The pattern  of the  smaller censer, 3  rendered
                                                                          in openwork with additional  chasing,  elegantly
                                                                           complements that  of the  larger ball-censer. The
                                                                          latter has  six medallions on  each  of its two hemi-
                                                                           spheres,  which are hinged  together and  fastened
                                                                           with a hook and  eye. The smaller censer  has three
                                                                           larger  medallions, each with a broad gilt band  with
                                                                           flying birds and  an openwork center.  Because of
                                                                           this censer's small size, the  medallions  are  split
                                                                           between its two hemispheres, and  inverted  isosceles
                                                                           triangles  are positioned between  them. The surface
                                                                           of both censers  is filled with foliage and flowers on
                                                                           a ring-punched  ground.
                                                                              The most striking feature of such  globular
                                                                           censers  is the  interior  gimbal mechanism, which
                                                                           enables the  incense  materials to smolder  safely
                                                                           without any danger to the person  carrying it about
                                                                           or keeping it within his or her  clothing  for warmth
                                                                           and perfume. In this example, the  mechanism con-
                                                                           sists of two rings 4.8 and  3.8 centimeters  in diame-
                                                                           ter, within which is suspended  a shallow bowl, 2.8
                                                                           centimeters in diameter and i.o centimeters  deep.



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