A RARE GOLD-SPLASHED BRONZE OVAL INCENSE BURNER
Xuande six-character mark, 18th centuryThe vessel of elliptical form with gently-flaring sides rising from four ruyi feet, the greenish-brown patina with numerous irregular gold splashes in varying sizes, the base with an apocryphal Xuande six-character mark. 21.5cm (8 1/2in) wide.
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十八世紀 銅灑金洗式爐「大明宣德年製」楷書款Provenance: an important European private collection來源:歐洲重要私人收藏Notable for its elegant and restrained form, the present vessel takes the form of a vessel type known as 'narcissus bowl', shuixian pen, which may have served as a incense burner as well as a floral bowl, probably as an elegant accessory on a scholar's desk. The elliptical form of narcissus basins appears to have originated in the ceramic production of the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127). See for example the exquisite Ruyao-glazed 'narcissus basins' dating to the 11th and 12th century and standing on four ruyi feet, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated by Lin Baiting, Special Exhibition of Ju Ware from the Northern Song Dynasty, Taipei, 2006, no.7.The origin of gold-splash decoration remains a source of speculation. The decoration, noted on the present example, may have been based on a Ming dynasty practice of decorating bronzes. This is suggested by a line drawing of a gold-splashed incense burner in the 'Illustrated Catalogue of of the Ritual Vessels of the Xuande Period' Xuande Yiqi Tupu, which purports to be the wording of an Imperial decree of 1428 ordering bronzes for the Palace, and which illustrates these vessels. Many scholars, however, have argued that the this work may have been published at a later stage than the Ming dynasty; see R.Kerr, Later Chinese Bronzes, London, 1990, p.18.An oval 'narcissus bowl' bronze incense burner, 16th-17th century, featuring a similar elliptical form as the present lot, is illustrated by S.Moss, The Second Bronze Age. Later Chinese Metalwork, London, 1991, no.43.爐型橢圓洗式,敞口淺腹,腹壁斜直內收,下底出一周圓弧棱線,承四隻如意云足。通體灑金,於古樸中見富麗。爐底中央減地陽文「大明宣德年製」六字楷書款。明宣德時期依據古籍典錄及宋瓷形制鑄造銅爐,洗式爐即成經典形制之一,明末清初之際仿鑄尤盛,頗受文人雅士的喜愛。此種器型原型可參考台北國立故宮博物院館藏北宋汝窯青瓷水仙盆,釉面純淨無紋,且同樣接雲頭型四足,本品造型與之如出一轍;見林柏亭編著,《大觀 北宋汝窯特展圖錄》,台北,2006年,編號7。比較一例十六至十七世紀銅洗式爐,形似本例,收錄於S.Moss著,《The Second Bronze Age. Later Chinese Metalwork》,倫敦,1991年,編號43。
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