A beautiful Chinese Incense burner dating to the reign of the Qing Dynasty. This incense burner is finely decorated with the cloisonné technique, consisting in decorating metalwork with vitreous enamel. The cloisonné technique flourished in China since the Ming Dynasty, and became a distinctive form of artistic expression for Chinese artist, attesting to the great cultural and technological advancement of Ming and Qing China.

This incense burner is decorated with floral and vegetal motifs, rendered with vitreous enamel of different colours over a blue background. The inscriptions read “There is no God but one” and “Mohammed is his Prophet”.

Incense burners were made in China since the late Ming Dynasty both for sinicised Muslims in China and for export towards the Islamic states with which China was trading through the Silk Route.