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- 24 Incense Burner
Ming or Qing dynasty; mid 17th century
h. 38.5 cm without stand;
The Reid Collection
The shape of this robust incense burner is
inspired by the ancient Shang dynasty
ritual bronze vessel known as the fangding.
The features of this shape are: a square
body, four blade-shaped legs, loop handles,
and protruding flanges. The lid of this
vessel has lotus scroll designs in cloisonne,
and archaistic-style cast openwork, which
is gilded. The finial of the lid is a gilded
five-clawed dragon amidst clouds. Beneath
the upper rim is a band of flowers followed
by a stylized monster mask known as the
taotie motif. The legs of the vessel are deco-
rated with parrot-like birds, and rest on
a cloisonne base, which is decorated with
floral scrolls. On the bottom of the vessel
are two spiralling dragons with a cast Jingtai
reign mark, which was added at a later
date.
28 Pair of Beakers
Qing dynasty; 18th century
h. 16.6 cm; The Reid Collection
Based on the ancient Shang ritual wine
beakers called gu, each of these vases has
a flat upper rim on a flared neck, a bulbous
mid-section, and a splayed base. The edges
of the mid-section are bordered with ruyi
lappets or cloud scrolls. The colours in-
clude : red, white, yellow, pink, various
shades of green, and violet on a turquoise-
blue ground.
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