PLEASE NOTE THE PROVENANCE SHOULD READ CAMBRIDGE ANTIQUES, CAMBRIDGE
A FINE CHINESE IMPERIAL CLOISONNE TRIPOD INCENSE BURNER AND COVER, DING

QIANLONG 1736-95

The exterior decorated with lappets containing archaistic scrolls and stylised lotus sprays, with bosses formed as flowerheads contained between raised bands above, with two upright loop handles decorated with mythical beast masks rising from the rim, the cover pierced with a continuous band of scrolling lotus, surmounted by an openwork ovoid finial formed as a ferocious dragon writhing amongst swirling clouds, all raised on three tall cylindrical feet, 24.7cm, 1.1kg. (2)

Provenance: purchased from Cambridge Antiques, Cambridge in the 1970s.

Cf. Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum, Enamels, 3, Cloisonné in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), p.213, no.178 for a related tripod incense burner with a similar finial; see also the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession no.81.1.625a, b, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession no.13-1894 for comparable tripod incense burners of a similar shape; see also H Garner, Chinese and Japanese Cloisonné Enamels, pl.70 for another incense burner with a similar finial.