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A POWERFUL ‘LUDUAN’ BRONZE CENSER, XUANDE MARK, EARLY QING DYNASTY
奥地利
2024年12月17日 开拍
拍品描述
A POWERFUL ‘LUDUAN’ BRONZE CENSER, XUANDE MARK, EARLY QING DYNASTY

Expert’s note: Luduan bronzes with Xuande marks are rather rare and only few examples have ever been on the market.

China, circa late 17th to 18th century. The sturdy beast is standing foursquare, the hinged cover rendered in the form of a single-horned head with bulging eyes, wide nostrils, the mouth agape revealing tongue and teeth, framed by the scrolling mane, the body with three strips of scaling along the chest, large lingzhi clouds along the sides, and an upright bushy tail.

Provenance
: British trade. Acquired from a deceased estate in northern England, by repute.
Condition: Excellent condition with expected wear and casting irregularities typical of age. The interior shows malachite encrustations, and the bronze has been professionally cleaned at some point, revealing the sharp, highly detailed casting. Minor nicks are present but unobtrusive, and the piece displays beautifully overall.

Weight: 1.2 kg
Dimensions: Height 19.3 cm

The base cast with an apocryphal four-character mark Xuande nianzhi.

The throne of the Emperor of China in the Hall of Supreme Harmony has two incense burners shaped as Luduans, the legendary Chinese auspicious creatures who can travel 18,000 li (9,000 km) in a single day and speak all world languages. A legend says that a Luduan once appeared to Genghis Khan and convinced him to abandon his efforts to conquer India.

Luduan are mythical and auspicious creatures
with strong lion bodies, a single horn and the paws of a bear. They are believed to have the ability to traverse vast distances and to master all languages, as well as foretelling the future, giving life to the good and killing evil. According to legend, they were originally known as ‘jiaoduan’, and their name changed to ‘luduan’ because the character for ‘lu’ matched their appearance better. Known as guardians of enlightened rulers, luduan were said to appear in areas where a wise and virtuous leader was present.

The auspicious nature of luduan
was particularly appropriate for the purpose of these censers. Cast with hinged or removable heads, they were made for burning incense and smoke would emerge from the beast’s mouth, animating and empowering the sculpture. As Chuimei Ho and Bennet Bronson note in their discussion of a pair of Qianlong cloisonné enamel examples from the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in the exhibition ‘Splendors of China's Forbidden City, The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong’ by The Field Museum, Chicago, 2004, these burners were traditionally valued at the Imperial Court, as with their open mouths and smoke billowing forth, they were a reminder to the emperor that he should always be receptive to honest advice (see page 37).

The origin of incense burners of this form
is difficult to determine; an example attributed to the Song dynasty was recovered from the Ming dynasty tomb of the scholar-official Zhang Shupei (1552-1615) in Tonglian, Sichuan (Wenwu, 1989, no. 7, pp 45-46, figs 14-16). Mythical beast incense burners however, became a popular model only from the Xuande period onwards. A censer in the form of a mythological animal was included in the painting ‘Enjoying Antiquities’ by Du Jin (ca. 1467-1505), where two scholars are depicted scrutinizing a selection of antiquities (illustrated in Through the Prism of the Past, Antiquarian Trends in Chinese Art of the 16th to 18th Century, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2003, catalog no. I-44). A drawing of a similar beast is also published in the Shizu zhai jian pu (Ten Bamboo Studio Catalogue of Letter Paper Designs), a woodblock printed book of stationery papers from 1645, compiled by Hu Zhengyan and illustrated in Ip Yee and Laurence C.S. Tam, Chinese Bamboo Carving, volume 1, Hong Kong, 1978, page 179, figure 15. Its popularity continued well into the Kangxi reign, when censers of this form were made in a variety of media, including porcelain, cloisonné enamel and bronze.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 18 April 2024, lot 759
Price: HKD 88,900 or approx. EUR 11,000 converted at the time of writing
Description: A bronze 'mythical beast' incense burner, luduan, Qing dynasty, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and manner of casting. Note the size (18.5 cm).

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价格信息

拍品估价:700 - 1,400 欧元 起拍价格:700 欧元  买家佣金: 35.00%

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