China, 1368-1644. The beast is superbly cast standing foursquare clutching a long snake-like creature which zigzags across the feet. The detachable single-horned head is hinged from the front and is cast with bulging eyes and bared teeth and tongue. The body is decorated with swirling scrolls and the details of the mane are finely incised.

Provenance: Ancient collection of a French aristocrat, Le Comte C. Thence by descent within the same family.
Condition: Good condition with significant old wear, casting flaws, nicks and dents, some losses, corrosion, possibly minor old fills. The left half of the hinge and the bolt are lost.

Weight: 8.9 kg
Dimensions: Height 41 cm

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: Compare a closely related but smaller (35.2 cm high) bronze luduan-form censer, dated Yuan to Ming dynasty, at Christie’s Hong Kong in The Pavilion Sale on 4 April 2017, lot 60, sold for HKD 350,000; a related but much smaller (19 cm long) luduan-form censer dated to the 16^th century at Christie’s Hong Kong in Through Connoisseurs' Eyes - Works of Art for the Emperor on 28 May 2014, lot 3021, sold for HKD 937,500; a related but considerably smaller (23 cm high) bronze luduan-form censer dated to the 17^th century at Christie’s Hong Kong in The Feng Wen Tang Collection Of Bamboo Carvings and Furniture on 3 June 2015, lot 2870, sold for HKD 275,000; and a closely related but much smaller (16.5 cm high) parcel-gilt bronze luduan-form censer dated to the 16^th century at Christie’s Hong Kong in The Pavilion Sale on 4 October 2016, lot 37, sold for HKD 325,000.

明代局部鎏金甪端銅香薰
中國, 1368-1644年。銅質，作獨角甪端形象，昂首傲立，蹲伏狀。雙目圓瞪，發須如火焰紋，前胸配以纓絡鈴鐺，頭部與身體相分開。腹部中空，設計巧妙。體態飽滿圓潤。

來源：法國貴族Le Comte C.收藏，保存在同一家族至今
品相：狀況良好，有明顯的磨損、鑄造缺陷、刻痕和凹痕、一些缺損、腐蝕，可能有輕微的舊填充物。鉸鏈的左半部分和螺栓丟失了。全器包漿厚實凝重。

重量：8.9 公斤
尺寸：高 41 厘米

故宮太和殿兩邊就有一對甪端陳設。以甪端護衛在側，顯示皇帝為有道明君。甪端是一種傳說中的神獸，據說日行一萬八千方裡，通四方語言。傳說曾經有甪端出現在成吉思汗面前，說服他放棄征服印度。

甪端與麒麟相似，其形怪異，犀角、獅身、龍背、熊爪、魚鱗、牛尾。相傳，他們原名‘角端’，後來因‘祿’字與他們的相貌相配而改名為‘祿端’。《宋書·符瑞志下》記載：“甪端日行萬八千里，又曉四夷之語，聖主在位，明達方外幽遠，則奉書而至。”

故甪端形像在明清兩代宮廷多有製作，且多以之為香熏，頭部使用鉸鍊或可移動，在故宮藏品中皆有可見。香可以從神獸的嘴中出，靈獸如生，吐納煙霧。何翠楣及 Bennet Bronson 論及北京故宮博物院收藏一對掐絲琺瑯例，曾展於《Splendors of China's Forbidden City. The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong》，菲爾特自然史博物館，芝加哥，2004年。二人並述，此類爐深受帝皇青睞，因其敞開獸口，煙霧湧溢，警惕君主廣納諫言。

（見第 37 頁）。

這種形式的香薰溯源很難確定。出土自四川銅梁明代文官張叔佩墓（1552-1615年），參考《文物》，1989年，號7，頁45-46，圖14-16。靈獸形熏爐直到宣德年間才流行。杜堇（約1467-1505年）《玩古圖》刻畫兩位文人鑒賞鼎彝古物，其中包括一件瑞獸熏爐，圖見《古色——十六至十八世紀藝術的仿古風》，臺北，2003年，編號 I-44。首印於1645年的胡正言編印《十竹齋箋譜》，其中木刻版畫插圖描繪一頭類似瑞獸，載於葉義及譚志成，《中國竹刻藝術》，上冊，香港，1978年，第179頁，圖15。此類靈獸之熏爐自宣德朝一直流行至康熙年間，而康熙朝更製作類同形制之瓷器、掐絲琺瑯及銅熏爐，材質多樣。

拍賣結果比較：比較一件稍小 (高35.2 厘米) 的甪端形同爐，元至明代，見香港佳士得The Pavilion Sale 2017年4月4日 lot 60, 售價HKD 350,000; 另一件小很多 (長19 厘米) 的甪端銅爐，十六世紀，見香港佳士得Through Connoisseurs' Eyes - Works of Art for the Emperor 2014年5月28日 lot 3021, 售價HKD 937,500; 還有一件小 (高23 厘米) 甪端銅爐，十七世紀，見香港佳士得The Feng Wen Tang Collection Of Bamboo Carvings and Furniture 2015年6月3日 lot 2870, 售價HKD 275,000; 還有一件很小 (高16.5 厘米) 的局部鎏金甪端銅爐，十六世紀，見香港佳士得The Pavilion Sale 2016年10月4日 lot 37, 售價HKD 325,000。