A CHINESE IMPERIAL FAMILLE ROSE 'BAJIXIANG' PINK-GROUND INCENSE BURNER, DING

IRON-RED SIX CHARACTER QIANLONG MARK AND OF THE PERIOD 1736-95

The bulbous body rising from three cabriole legs to a short neck with a galleried rim and set at the shoulder with a pair of curved handles, the exterior richly enamelled with the bajixiang (eight Buddhist emblems) and stylised lotus flowerheads and branches below a band of ruyi-heads, the rim with a blue enamelled keyfret border, all reserved on a rich luminous pink ground, the interior turquoise, 28.5 cm.

Provenance: from the Gardener family collection, Hertfordshire, and thence by descent.

Cf. A Special Exhibition of Incense Burners and Perfumers Throughout the Dynasties, National Palace Museum,p.251, no.105 for a related vessel but with a ruby ground.

This rare incense burner forms part of an altar garniture. Such garnitures were made to be placed in official sites such as the Temple of Ancestors and the Hall of Ancestors in the Forbidden City and in non-official halls including the Shouhuangdian located in Jinshan.