Qing Dynasty Incense Censer, and Stand, Eighteenth to Nineteenth Century AD
Bronze, Wood
17.7 x 16.9 x 8.2 cm
7 x 6 5/8 x 3 1/4 in
Dimensions given without stand
7 x 6 5/8 x 3 1/4 in
Dimensions given without stand
ES.3598
Since Neolithic times, the Chinese have burned incense. Incense-burning became an important cultural and social activity; during the Song Dynasty (AD 960 – AD 1279), at the height of incense...
Since Neolithic times, the Chinese have burned incense. Incense-burning became an important cultural and social activity; during the Song Dynasty (AD 960 – AD 1279), at the height of incense culture, Chinese elites maintained special rooms in which to burn and inhale incense as an important marker of social status. Incense was considered essential both in life and death. The most common form of ancestral offering was gōngxiāng, the offering of incense at the grave or tomb of the deceased. The burning of incense became a recognised art-form (known as xiāngdao), much like the pouring of tea or the arranging of flowers. The ceremonies of xiāngdao involved the use of specialised equipment, including censers, tongs, spatulas, and special moulds to make incense cakes.
This Qing Dynasty censer is created in the form of a fangding, the ancient four-legged ritual cauldrons which are commonly found in the tombs of the Shang (1600 BC – 1045 BC) and Zhou (1046 BC – 256 BC) Dynasties. It has four sinuous legs terminating in a delicate curve and a ball, and a deep round belly. Two curved bronze handles rise from the shoulders of the vessel, as though mimicking bulls’ horns, which are attached to the neck of the censer by a pair of prongs. The mouth of the vessel is rectangular, the vertical sides of which is decorated with an archaising cloud-and-thunder (yunleiwen) pattern, consisting of diamonds with a spiral meander motif. There is a thick overhanging lip. The bronze censer sits on a wooden stand, with an intricate central rosette. While the censer itself mimics the forms and decoration of earlier times, the stand is thoroughly Qing, demonstrating the heights that Chinese woodworking attained during that Dynasty.
Incense was a central part of religious ceremonies, cultural life, and even Chinese medicine. There was no clear-cut distinction between spices, incense, drugs and perfumes, and it was believed that the inhalation of incense had numerous physiological and psychological benefits, including curing cataracts and ‘negative vapours’ that plagued the heart. It was in recognition of the central role of incense in Chinese life that such elegant and expensive incense paraphernalia was made.
This Qing Dynasty censer is created in the form of a fangding, the ancient four-legged ritual cauldrons which are commonly found in the tombs of the Shang (1600 BC – 1045 BC) and Zhou (1046 BC – 256 BC) Dynasties. It has four sinuous legs terminating in a delicate curve and a ball, and a deep round belly. Two curved bronze handles rise from the shoulders of the vessel, as though mimicking bulls’ horns, which are attached to the neck of the censer by a pair of prongs. The mouth of the vessel is rectangular, the vertical sides of which is decorated with an archaising cloud-and-thunder (yunleiwen) pattern, consisting of diamonds with a spiral meander motif. There is a thick overhanging lip. The bronze censer sits on a wooden stand, with an intricate central rosette. While the censer itself mimics the forms and decoration of earlier times, the stand is thoroughly Qing, demonstrating the heights that Chinese woodworking attained during that Dynasty.
Incense was a central part of religious ceremonies, cultural life, and even Chinese medicine. There was no clear-cut distinction between spices, incense, drugs and perfumes, and it was believed that the inhalation of incense had numerous physiological and psychological benefits, including curing cataracts and ‘negative vapours’ that plagued the heart. It was in recognition of the central role of incense in Chinese life that such elegant and expensive incense paraphernalia was made.