Page 46 - Sotheby's Asia Week March 2024 Chinee Art

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PROPERTY FROM A WASHINGTON, D.C. PRIVATE COLLECTION Attesting to the importance of the form, numerous
A PAIR OF LARGE ‘HUANGHUALI’ examples of incense stands of various forms can be found
RECTANGULAR INCENSE STANDS (XIANGJI), in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete
Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Furniture
17TH / 18TH CENTURY OR LATER of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II), Hong Kong, 2002,
(2) pp 167-81, nos 149-63. For examples of how these incense
Height 33 in., 83.8 cm; Width 21½ in., 54.6 cm; stands would be used in-situ in the Palace, see Ming Qing
Depth 19 in., 48.2 cm Gong Jia Ju Da Guan (A Collection of Court Furniture of the
Ming and Qing Dynasties Housed in the Palace Museum),
PROVENANCE Beijing, 2006, pp 668-69, fig. 774, p. 681, fig. 778, and p.
Australian Private Collection. 685, figs 780-1. A pair of related stands, lacking the brown
Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, New York, circa 1961. lacquer inset panels, from the collection of Sir Joseph
The Biddle Collection. Hotung, was sold in these rooms, 22nd March 2023, lot 543.
A single table with a burl wood inset sold in our Hong Kong
LITERATURE rooms, 7th October 2015, lot 110. See also a similar table
Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture, Hardwood with a huamu inset sold at Christie’s New York, 21st March
Examples of the Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, New York, 2013, lot 929.
1970, pl. 82.
◉ $ 50,000-70,000
Tall, sturdy, and elegant forms such as the present pair
were used as supporting stands for incense burners 十七 / 十八世紀或以後 黃花梨有束腰長方
during rituals or prayers. A depiction illustrating the typical
use of these forms appears in a Yuan Dynasty painting, 香几一對
Vimalakirti and the Doctrine of Nonduality by Wang
Zhengpeng (c. 1280-1329), from the Metropolitan Museum 來源：
of Art, New York, where a Buddhist lion-shaped burner with 澳大利亞私人收藏
a lotus stand is placed on a tall table, elegantly draped with 安思遠，紐約，約1961年
an intricate, jewel-encrusted fabric, see Sarah Handler, Biddle 收藏
Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkeley,
2001, p. 296, fig. 17.1. As described in Zhusheng bajian (Eight
discourses on a healthful lifestyle) by late Ming literati Gao 出版：
Lian (1573-1620), stands such as the present example, could 安思遠，《Chinese Furniture, Hardwood
serve as supports for other functions, from displaying stones Examples of the Ming and Early Qing Dynasties》
or strange rocks to presenting citrus fruit, and flower-filled ，紐約，1970年，圖版82
vases, in addition to holding an incense burner.
Wang Shixiang, in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture,
vol. I, Hong Kong, 1990, pp 52-54, expounds on the
importance of incense stands, ‘In wealthy homes, they were
placed in large halls to support censers where all types of
exotic fragrances including flower and plant petals, and
animal essences were burned,’ and continues, ‘in temples
as well as in private homes, incense stands were designed
to fit the scale of the room. This rule was echoed in the Lu
Ban Jing which emphasized that incense stands should
be in proportion to the room in which they were placed.’
Focusing on the significance of their primary function as
stands for censers, Sarah Handler (ibid.) examines the
use of incense for inspiration, explaining, ‘When a scholar
prepares to write a poem, paint a picture, or play the zither
- activities that assume rapture - incense is indispensable.
It is a spiritual stimulant that, when mixed with rare feeling
and inspiration, dissipates gloom that would otherwise
paralyze the artist’s creativity.’

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