Page 258 - Bonhams Chinese Art NYC Nov 9 2017

195
A RARE ARABIC-INSCRIBED TRILOBED
INCENSE BURNER
Xuande six-character mark, Qing Dynasty
Heavily cast in the form of three conjoined cylinders,
decorated to each side with a lobed cartouche
enclosing Arabic invocations, flanked by a pair of
loop handles.
21cm (8 1/4in) wide.
£3,500 - 4,500
CNY31,000 - 40,000

清 銅阿拉伯禱文三聯香爐
「大明宣德年製」楷書鑄款

Provenance: Christie’s Amsterdam, 24 May 2006,
lot 605 (part lot)
A distinguished European private collection
195
來源： 2006年5月24日於阿姆斯特丹佳士得拍賣，
拍品605號（其一）
顯貴歐洲私人收藏

The Arabic inscriptions read, afdal al-dhikr, ‘the best
dhikr (remembering [God])’ and al-dunya wa fi’l-
akhirah ‘the world and in the hereafter’. The script
is known as sini script, a Chinese calligraphic form
developed for Arabic script characterised by thick,
tapering strokes.
196
AN UNUSUAL BRONZE ‘DRAGON-FISH’
INCENSE BURNER AND COVER
Qing Dynasty
Well cast in the form of a fish with sharp dorsal
spines along the back to the tail, supported upright
by its fins and a tasselled chord held from its mouth,
the detachable cover in the form of a dragon’s head
with large glass eyes, flaring snout and finely incised
mane and whiskers, inscribed with a ten-character
inscription on the base of the censer. 17.2cm (6
3/4in) high. (2).
£2,000 - 3,000
CNY18,000 - 27,000
清 銅魚龍幻化薰爐

Provenance: a distinguished European private
collection

來源： 顯貴歐洲私人收藏

The inscription reads:’莫道長潛水，飛騰也有時’,
which may be translated as:’None long dive under
water, now and then swiftly soaring’. See a similar
bronze dragon-fish incense burner and cover,
Qianlong, in the Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona (acc.
no.1994.425.A).

196 A very similar bronze dragon-fish incense burner
and cover, dated as late Ming dynasty, was sold at
Christie’s Hong Kong, 4 April 2017, lot 63.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
256 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.