A FINE GOLD-SPLASHED BRONZE CENSER, GUI, 17TH-18TH CENTURY
Lot 382 - FAS1025

China. Boldly cast, the rounded sides curve inwards toward the rim and flare out again at the lip, supported on a tall spreading foot, and encircled by a bowstring band, flanked by a pair of crisply modeled dragon heads with curled manes and prominent snouts from whose open jaws emerge two sturdy handles, each terminating in a small tab. The exterior and the mouth are densely covered in irregular gold splashes.

Provenance: From a private collection in Belgium.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, traces of use, and manufacturing irregularities, including a small rectangular gilt-parcel copper casting patch to the base and another to the side. Occasional light nicks, few small dents, and scattered surface scratches, mostly to rims. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown, warm patina

Weight: 784.4 g
Dimensions: Length 17.1 cm

The present censer, conceived for burning fragrant incense, is modeled after ancient Chinese ceremonial bronze vessels known as gui, which were made during the Shang and Zhou dynasties for sacrificial purposes to the ancestors. During the Ming dynasty, secular incense burners inspired by ritual bronzes emerged from the antiquarian pursuits of the intellectual elite. Such burners were typically placed on stands or small tables reserved for their use. The delicate fragrances produced from rare, imported, and often costly aromatic woods were highly valued among China’s elite. Together with incense and the tongs used to handle it, the censer became an essential element of the scholar’s study. While incense was employed ceremonially across all levels of Chinese society, the literati cultivated a refined connoisseurship of its use, integrating it into the rhythms of daily life.

The gold-splashed decoration was achieved by fire-gilding, a technique involving the application of gold in the form of a mercury/gold amalgam. Subsequently the vessel was heated to drive off the mercury, so that the small amount of gold was left adhering to the base metal. The process could then be repeated several times to build up thicker layers of gold. The origins of gold-splash decoration on bronze remain uncertain. It was probably inspired by an archaizing taste during the Ming and Qing dynasties, since later connoisseurs appear to have regarded gold splashes on ancient bronzes, whether intentionally applied or the result of uneven patination, as deliberate decorative effects.

Literature comparison:
Compare two related bronze incense burners of comparable size, on with a similar archaic ‘gui’ form, the other covered in identical gold splashes, China, dated late Ming dynasty, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and illustrated in C. K. Chen (ed.), A Special Exhibition of Incense Burner and Perfumers Throughout the Dynasties in The National Palace Museum, 1994, p. 196-197, no. 51-52. Compare a closely related smaller gold-splashed bronze gui-form censer, dated 17^th-18^th century, 9 cm wide, illustrated and exhibited by Ben Janssens Oriental Art, Chinese Metalwork, 5-14 November 2015, London, p. 50-51, no. 23.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 9 April 2006, lot 1701
Price: HKD 420,000 or approx. EUR 74,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An archaistic gilt-splashed bronze vessel, gui, 17th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of casting, and gold-splashed decoration. Note the taotie masks and apocryphal Xuande mark.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 19 March 2013, lot 341
Estimate: USD 12,000 or approx. EUR 14,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A small gold-splashed bronze censer (gui), 17th-18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of casting, and gold-splashed decoration. Note the dragon band and apocryphal Xuande mark. This censer is possibly the same as the one published by Ben Janssens.