Lot 12 A Chinese blue and white ko-sometsuke 'Buddhist Lion' incense burner

A Chinese blue and white ko-sometsuke 'Buddhist Lion' incense burner

Wanli/Tianqi, ca. 1620

未知

€ 25.000 – € 50.000

WDH: H. 22,9 cm, W. 15,6 cm, D. 9 cm (incl. base)

未知

A ko-sometsuke blue and white porcelain incense burner, the cover modelled as a Buddhist lion seated upon a rectangular plinth. One paw rests on a pierced brocade ball connected to a ribbon held in its mouth, while a bell hangs from a cord around its neck. The hollow body was designed to hold burning incense, allowing smoke to escape through the open mouth, pierced eyes, nostrils and bell, creating a striking and otherworldly visual effect. The cover fits closely over the walled incense compartment below.
The surface is densely decorated with fine stippling, a distinctive treatment also found on a small number of comparable ko-sometsuke Buddhist lion-form incense burners.
一件古染付青花香爐，爐蓋塑作佛獅蹲坐於長方形臺座之上。佛獅一足踏鏤空繡球，口銜與繡球相連的飄帶，頸繫垂鈴。中空獅身可置燃香，煙霧由張開的獅口以及鏤空的雙眼、鼻孔與鈴鐺緩緩逸出，形成瑞獸吞雲吐霧的奇特視覺效果。爐蓋與下方帶圍壁的爐膛緊密扣合。
香爐表面密布珍珠地紋，裝飾繁密細緻，此種處理方式亦見於少數同類古染付佛獅形香爐。
Reference:
For another near-identical example, see Katharine Butler and Teresa Canepa, 'Leaping the Dragon Gate: The Sir Michael Butler Collection of Seventeenth-century Chinese Porcelain', p. 112, no. III.1.70, included in the 2008 exhibition 'Chinese Porcelains from the Butler Collections' at the Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art, Luxembourg, and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue, p. 40, no. 13. Other near-identical examples are in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, gift of Roy C. Leventritt, the Tokyo National Museum collection and another with Sotheby's London, 3 November 2021, lot 226. Another, lacking the plinth, is in the Albuquerque Foundation, Sintra Portugal, illustrated in 'The RA Collection of Chinese Ceramics. A Collector's Vision', Maria Antonia Pinto de Matos, Jorge Welsh Books, pp. 102-103, no. 44, inv. no. 746.
An example without speckling on the body, is illustrated by Masahiko Kawahara, 'Ko-sometsuke, Monochrome Section', p. 33, no. 121.
For a comparable pair, without plinths, in the collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, illustrated in 'Two Americans in Paris: A Quest for Asian Art', 2016, no. 300, later with Sotheby's London in the eponymous sale, 4 November 2021, lot 348.
Provenance:
A Japanese private collection.
Marchant, London, with their label to the base.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above in 2014, according to the owner's inventory notes.
Exhibited and published:
Marchant, London, included in their June 2014 exhibition of 'Chinese Ceramics Tang to Qing', and published in the accompanying catalogue, pp. 44-45, no. 22. Also illustrated in their 2025 publication 'One Hundred Years', Vol. II, p. 302, fig. 1612.