Tripod Censer with Chi-Dragon Handles and Lion-Dog Knop on Openwork Cover

Later Chinese bronzes, like this one, often re-call the shape and design of vessels from the 7th through 6th century BCE.

Bronze casting in China was a complex mixture of art and artifice. New bronzes might be ordered to look old, and artists might make a reproduction bronze similar to an original ancient model in nearly every detail, including corrosion and patina.

The robust corporeal character of this censer is in accord with Ming sculptural style: heavy, earthbound, and solid. The lightness and fluidity of the openwork design on the cover and the lively expressions of the lion-dog knob and feline handles relieve the heaviness of the somber, pot-bellied vessel. The incense burner is corroded a green-grey, but there are patches of a fine brown that suggest its original color.