Page 228 - 2019 October Important Chinese Art Sotheby's Hong Kong

A PRIVATE COLLECTION OF
GOLD-SPLASHED INCENSE BURNERS

LOTS 3646-3659

The diverse range of shapes and the brilliance of the abstract The origin of gilt-bronze splash remains a source of
gold splashes on this carefully selected group of incense speculation. Gerard Tsang and Hugh Moss in Arts from the
burners reveal the true connoisseurship of the collector. Scholar’s Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, p. 184, mention that the
Their forms take inspiration from antiquity, each distinct popularity of this surface decoration was fostered by Xuande
from the other, but they are united by the irregular spots bronzes of the Ming dynasty, where the appearance of the
and flakes of gold that cover their well-patinated bodies. gold splashes was caused by the uneven surface patination
These seem to emerge from the alloy at different angles, of the vessel. Some scholars have linked gold-splashed
in the random fashion that minerals such as gold are decoration on bronzes to qingbai and Longquan wares
discovered in their natural state. This gives a most pleasing of the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. In the exhibition
overall appearance, the gold splashes not distracting from catalogue China’s Renaissance in Bronze, Phoenix Art
the overall forms of the vessels but subtly reinforcing their Museum, Phoenix, 1993, p. 169, Robert Mowry mentions
distinct individuality. For in contrast to archaic ritual bronzes, the appearance of fine paper enlivened with flecks of
primarily made for ceremonial use or for the tomb, these gold and silver from the early 15th century and suggests
brilliant legacies of late Ming and early Qing China were that this ‘might have also played a role in the creation of
a celebration of life, to be used in daily settings and for such abstract decoration, either directly inspiring those
bringing warmth and rich colour to a scholar’s desk. who designed the bronzes or indirectly moulding taste to
appreciate objects sprinkled with gold and silver’.

226 SOTHEBY ’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART