A BRONZE 'ELEPHANT' INCENSE BURNER
Xuande sixteen-character mark, Ming Dynasty
Of cylindrical form, supported by three elephant-head feet and flanked by two elephant-head handles, the base cast with a four-line inscription, Daming Xuande wunian jiandu gongbu guanchen Wu Bangzuo zao, (Made for the Board of Works under the Supervision of Wu Bangzuo in the Fifth Year of Xuande) in regular script.
21cm (8 1/2in) diam. across the handles
Footnotes:
明 銅寶象三足爐 《大明宣德五年監督工部官臣吳邦佐造》款

See a related bronze tripod cylindrical incense burner with elephant feet, late Ming/early Qing, Xuande mark, which was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 6 April 2016, lot 3681.

A small area of restoration to the mouth rim, approx.2×1cm, probably associated with cast imperfection when the incense burner was made; general surface wear including minor nicks, scratches and dents to the extremities; chemical accretions on the inside body; a small aperture to the base, approx. 0.3×0.2 cm.