420.
A CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL HEXAGONAL INCENSE-STICK HOLDER, XIANGTONG
Ming dynasty, 16th century
23,9 cm high
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 5274.
The hexagonal vase raising on six small feet, the borders of the six sides and the mouth underlined with gilt brass, the container standing on a flattened globular basement supported by a splayed pedestal with six gilt brass leaf-shaped feet, the floral decoration enamelled in dark green, yellow, red and white on a turquoise ground, a pierced ruyi head on each of the six faces of the vase.
During the Ming dynasty the use of burning fragrances, often imported from far countries, widely spread in China, in religious contexts and private homes, stimulating the production of objects related to it.
This vessel too has been originally used to hold incense sticks. It was probably paired with an incense burner to have immediately available a supply of perfumed sticks.
The shape of this incense-stick holder seems to derive from similar bronzes already produced in the late Song and early Yuan dynasty (see the example from the Clague Collection: R.D. Mowry, China’s Renaissance in Bronze. The Robert H. Clague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900, exhibition catalogue, Phoenix 1993, n. 5). Furthermore, the combination of a vessel with a stand was also in the repertoire of Chinese ceramists of the Yuan dynasty, developed mainly by qingbai, Jun and Longquan kilns.
