An enamel on copper censer, late Qing dynasty/Republic with a blue enamel Qianlong mark.
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The globular vessel raised on three bulbous feet, colourfully enamelled with a meandering foliate lotus scroll reserved on a dark blue ground rising to the rounded shoulder decorated with lotus-petal panels and cylindrical neck with lotus blossoms, below the rim meander frieze, flanked by a pair of similarly-enamelled S-shaped handles set with openwork gilt copper areas, the elaborate domed cover decorated with a meandering foliate lotus scroll in openwork between a geometric border around the rim and ruyi-head, below the reticulated gilt-copper globular finial decorated with a coiled five-clawed dragon pursuing the flaming pearl amidst cloud-scrolls. Height 23 cm. Width 15.5 cm.
One handle restored, loss of enamel.
Provenance
Property of a Danish Collector.
Exhibitions
Compare with one with the same lotus pattern but dated as Qianlong in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, New York. redit line: Bequest of Stephen Whitney Phoenix, 1881. Object Number: 81.1.638a–c.
Literature
The painted enamel incense burner is of the type of impressive Imperial-tribute ware made in Guangzhou/Guandong for the Qing Court. Such an incense burner would most likely have been the central element in a five-piece garniture, which would have included a pair of candlesticks and a pair of gu vases. For two complete garnitures, mid Qing dynasty, from the Qing Court Collection, see the Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Enamels 5, Painted Enamels in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Beijing, 2011, nos.176 and 264. Compare also the similar openwork design on the cover of a painted enamel brazier and a pair of painted enamel incense holders, both mid Qing dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated ibid., nos.254 and 255.
More information
The incense burner is of 'ding' form, based on the shape of archaic bronze ritual vessels of the Shang dynasty, and as such reflects the Qianlong emperor's fascination with antiquity and his call for craftsmen to take inspiration from forms and designs of antiquity.