A RARE INLAID GILT-BRONZE 'YINGXIONG' INCENSE BURNER QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD

boldly cast with a plump mythical beast standing foursquare, the fierce leonine head with bulging eyes beneath thick eyebrows, its mouth slightly open revealing its teeth, surmounted by a phoenix perched on its back, the feathered wings with incised archaistic scrollwork, sweeping back towards the lion’s tail, the bird's head with eagle's beak and curled crest all superbly embellished with various semi-precious stones including malachite, agate, carnelian, rose-quartz, lapis-lazuli and white jade in a myriad of colours

Beaussant Lefèvre, 10th November 1999, lot 34.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 23rd October 2005, lot 396.

The incense burner is in overall good condition with expected pitting, general surface wear and scratches. The semi-precious stones may have been later added or stabilised. The original casting holes were filled in at the time of production and are still visible.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Elaborately inlaid and finely cast censers in the form of mythical beasts surmounted by phoenix are rare, and the present piece is remarkable for its well-preserved gilding and inlay of semi-precious stones. In its detailed workmanship this censer is comparable to a qilin censer, cast with a funnel-shaped opening at the back, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s Special Exhibition of Incense Burners Throughout the Dynasties, Taipei, 1994, cat. no. 119; another, from the collection of Heber R. Bishop, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st November 2004, lot 878, and twice in our New York rooms, 20th/21st November 1973, lot 39, and 18th September 2007, lot 14; and a third example sold in these rooms, 22nd May 1985, lot 261.

Similarly embellished gilt-bronze censers, but lacking the surmount, include one in the shape of a qilin, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated in Stephen Bushell, Chinese Art, vol. II, London, 1919, fig. 96; two sold in these rooms, the first, 15th May 1990, lot 365, and the second, 10th April 2006, lot 1542; and another in the form of three phoenixes, from the Rothschild family collection, sold in these rooms, 8th October 2009, lot 1734. 

The word yingxiong is homophonous with ‘hero’, hence the saying yingxiong duli (‘Solitary hero, alone in glory and nobility’). The yingxiong motif first appeared on bronze ‘champion’ vases of the Western Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 9), where the bird, originally identified as an eagle (ying), stands on a small bear (xiong) and joins two cylindrical tubes with its outstretched wings. An inlaid bronze vessel of this type, excavated from the tomb of the wife of Prince Liu Sheng (d. 113 BC) in Mancheng, and now held in the Hebei Provincial Museum, is illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji. Qin Han [Collection of Chinese bronzes. Qin and Han dynasties], vol. 12, Beijing, 1998, pl. 73. 

Reinterpretations of the yingxiong motif grew in popularity from the Song dynasty (960-1279) onwards, and in the Qing dynasty it was used on a variety of vessels in different media; see for example a similarly modelled jade vase, sold at Christie’s London, 26th February 1968, lot 106, and again in our London rooms, 21st June 1977, lot 293; and a rhinoceros horn cup, sold in our New York rooms, 19th March 2007, lot 370.