China, 1644-1912. Of cylindrical form, supported on three elephant-head-shaped feet with the trunk forming each leg, the body finely enameled with taotie masks and lotus scrolls above a turquoise ground, and set with a wide shaped everted rim decorated with five serpents to the top and to the bottom, the upper body with two bands of openwork scroll, the domed cover with further openwork scroll as well as birds and taotie masks amid scrolling vines above a key-fret border, all below the pierced bud-shaped finial.

Provenance: From a private collection in Versailles, France.
Condition: Fine condition with expected old wear, minor warping, small nicks, light dents, surface scratches, malachite encrustations, and few losses.

Weight: 2.2 kg
Dimensions: Height 32.7 cm

The base with an apocryphal two-character mark da Ming.

Large and elaborate censers like the current piece were not only decorative objects but were also used as heating. The most convenient form of heating in large manors and temple buildings were braziers. Cities like Beijing experience relatively cold winters and had limited under-floor heating, as stoves and heated kang were not sufficient to warm the inhabitants of places like the Forbidden City. Thus, the interior halls of prominent buildings had additional heating in the form of charcoal-burning braziers. These braziers ranged from magnificent multi-tiered cloisonne enamel vessels to simple iron cages.

Expert's note: The present lot is modeled after censers and braziers dating back to the Ming dynasty. Typically, these are supported on three elephant-head feet, with a wide everted rim at the waist, and reticulated bands around the upper body and domed cover. For an example dating to the late Ming dynasty, 17th century, see Christie's London, 9 November 2010, lot 228. For an example dating to the Kangxi period, see Christie's Hong Kong 28 November 2012, lot 2225.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related incense burner of similar form, also with openwork panels and raised on elephant heads, dated to the second half of the 16th century, 28 cm high, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated by Wen C. Fong and James C.Y. Watt, Possessing the Past, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, p. 454, pl. 256.