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18th Century Bronze Lion Dog Censer

$4,100.10List Price

About the Item

A very rare 18th century Chinese patinated bronze censer formed as a foo dog, or lion dog, the hinged neck opening up access to the body of the censer. Modeled with characteristic fierce expression and with one foot menacingly poised in the air. The mouth is open to facilitate the evacuation of smoke from the body. There is also a hollow section within the tail and there is evidence this has also been used for burning incense. This is a highly unusual and rare object. Slight wear to surface but overall very good condition. Note: almost certainly Ming 18th century, circa 1750. Hugh Moss writes about such incense burners in Arts from the The Scholar’s Studio published by the Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong in 1986 to accompany their exhibition, number 240, page 232 ,‘It is not known when the mythical beast incense burner with removable or, sometimes, hinged head was first developed. . . . [an] example, dated to the second year of Tianqi (1622), is in the Shuisongshi Shanfang collection, and a similar beast is found in a woodblock illustration published in 1645, at which time it was already in a collection and probably considered an antique. Several others are known which may be reasonably dated to the late Ming or early Qing period. . . The idea behind this type of incense burner is that once the incense is lit the smoke emerges from the beast’s mouth, giving the impression of a living creature breathing smoke.’ A similar example, without the rare hinged (instead detachable) head, was sold at TEFAF 2016 in Maastricht by dealer Ben Janssens (see catalogue Ben Janssens Oriental Art, London, 2016) and was previously owned by Chinese Art in Scotland. The head has the similar fierce expression but was in the form of a luduan, or Chinese unicorn. According to the published TEFAF report in The Antiques Trade Gazette, this example of the genre was sold for a sum ‘in the region of 20,000 euros’. Such censers rarely appear on the market and this is a particularly fine example enjoying the feature of the hinged lid and tail aperture. It is an unusual opportunity to acquire such a rare artifact at this price. Unlike porcelain or other items which are all too frequently copied, heavy and intricate bronze items like this are virtually impossible to copy effectively.

Dimensions:
Height: 6.7 in (17 cm)Width: 6.3 in (16 cm)Depth: 4.73 in (12 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Bronze
Place of Origin:
China
Period:
1750-1759
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1750
Condition:
Seller Location:
Berwickshire, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: 3001stDibs: LU3573110215231

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