Page 221 - 2020 Sept Important Chinese Art Sotheby's NYC Asia Week

9/2/2020 Important Chinese Art | Sotheby's

rooms, 8th April 2014, lot 210. Compare also a lion censer, seated and with a detachable head, from the collection of Kevin Ching,
included in the Min Chiu Society exhibition The Radiant Ming 1368-1644, Hong Kong Museum of History, Hong Kong, 2015, cat. no.
279.

Revered for their strength and spiritual essence, lions were considered mythological guardians with the divine power to ward off
evil spirits. While the origins of censers cast as lions is difficult to determine, they gained much popularity in the early Ming
dynasty (1368-1644). Unlike this piece that is cast with the lid on the animal’s back, censers in the form of lions were generally
made with a detachable head and depicted seated. The hollowed interior was filled with charcoal, sandalwood or musk, and when
incense was lit, smoke emerged through the beast’s mouth, giving the impression of a living creature breathing smoke.

The dating of this lot is consistent with the result of a thermoluminescence test Re. S. Artes, no. C141387B-1.

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