Juliette Hammer
Sale Coordinator
Lot 24
A CARVED BAMBOO INCENSE BURNER, DING 18th century
14 May 2025, 10:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£2,000 - £3,000
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Chen Xie
Specialist
Edward Luper
Specialist, Chinese Works of Art
Lazarus Halstead
Head of Chinese and Asian Art, London
A CARVED BAMBOO INCENSE BURNER, DING
18th century
Supported on three cabriole feet, carved in relief with a continuous scenery of gentlemen on a sampan or crossing a river amidst pine trees and rockwork, the vertical loop handles naturalistically carved in the form of bamboo stems, the interior left plain.
7.3cm (2 7/8in) high.
Supported on three cabriole feet, carved in relief with a continuous scenery of gentlemen on a sampan or crossing a river amidst pine trees and rockwork, the vertical loop handles naturalistically carved in the form of bamboo stems, the interior left plain.
7.3cm (2 7/8in) high.
Footnotes
十八世紀 竹雕山水人物圖三足鼎式爐
From the 17th century onwards, a strong trend of archaism emerged among the Han Chinese literati and was later embraced by the Qing Court, particularly during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. The present lot, modelled after an ancient bronze incense burner, reflects these pervasive archaistic tastes. The Qianlong Emperor, a devoted patron of the arts, admired such styles and composed more than ten poems praising bamboo carvings of this style. In his writings, he emphasised that the excellence of renowned bamboo carvers lay not in mere refinement but in their ability to evoke antiquity and authenticity (不期精細期倉古). He further encouraged artisans to 'gradually guide it towards antiquity, hoping it may return to its original essence' (漸慾引之古，庶其返以初). For further discussion on the Qianlong Emperor and bamboo carving, see Liu Yue, Aici suiran tong wanwu weili hanmo yongyoujian: Jiading zhuke yu Qingdai gongting (愛此雖然同玩物，未離翰墨詠游間：嘉定竹刻與清代宮廷), in Forbidden City, 2013, pp.43-59.
See a related carved bamboo incense burner in the form of a square ding vessel, mid-Qing dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Hong Kong, 2002, p.84, no.77. See also a related carved bamboo incense burner, Qianlong period, illustrated by Ip Yee and L.C.S.Tam, Chinese Bamboo Carving, vol.1, Hong Kong, 1978, pp.420-421, no.141.