Qianlong Lotus Censer with Cloisonne Enamel

A gilt-bronze and cloisonne enamel 'lotus' censer, Qianlong…
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A gilt-bronze and cloisonne enamel 'lotus' censer, Qianlong incised six-character mark reign mark in a vertical line, above a single character, guo, box, 9.8 cm high. Provenance: Tony Omura, 'See an Old Friend' Gallery, Hong Kong. Private collection, Sydney Cloisonne in the form of earlier bronze prototypes were used profusely during the Qianlong period (1735-1796) as trios of incense burner, container, and related tool caddy, known as luping sanshi in Beijing. Besides the typical reign marks, they often carry an extra character from the Thousand Character Classic, an ancient indexing system Chinese used since as early as the Tang dynasty (618-907). It contains exactly 1000 and non-repeated characters, hence was found to be versatile and efficient in indexing libraries and collections, including the Imperial Collection.

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  • Incised - A record of a name, date or inscription, or a decoration scratched into a surface, usually of a glass or ceramic item with a blunt instrument to make a coarse indentation. Compare with engraving where the surface is cut with a sharp instrument such as a metal needle or rotating tool to achieve a fine indentation.
  • Bronze - An alloy of copper and tin, traditionally in the proportions of about 9 parts of copper to 1 part of tin.

    The discovery of bronze in Western Asia in the 4th century enabled people to create metal objects which were superior to those previoulsy possible because of its strength and hardness, and it has been used throughout the world for weapons, coins, tools, statuary and other decorative items.

    It is very fluid in a molten state, and its hardness, strength when set, and non-corrosive properties makes it most suitable for casting sculpture.

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