明十七世紀 局部鎏金銅瑞獸紋簋式爐 《雲間胡文明製》款

底刻：「乙亥年中秋火星神前張丕勳叩送」

There is general scratching, pin holes and surface wear to the body. The handles of the vessel are slightly loose. There is minor rubbing and loss to gilt. The patina is a darker colour in reality.
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An almost identical incense burner, but without the additional inscription, is illustrated by Gerard Tsang and Hugh Moss, 'Chinese Metalwork of the Hu Wenming Group', Handbook, International Asian Antiques Fair, Hong Kong, 1984, p. 46, fig. 9.  The difference in the wings of the dragons, however, suggests that these designs were beaten into the copper freehand, rather than around pre-formed moulds. If moulds had been used, there would seem little point in producing an almost identical incense burner with a slightly different design. The two incense burners therefore play an important role in our understanding of the techniques of the Hu Wenming workshop.

The lingzhi-head motif in the centre of the upper register found here and on several other Hu Wenming incense burners is more recognisable as a taotie head here than on other examples and suggests that to whatever extent the lingzhi symbolism of the motif was implied, it was also intended to act as a taotie.  Part of the sophisticated delight of archaism is that while invoking antiquity in the selection of archaic forms or motifs, there was an intentional overlay of contemporary meaning.  This is part of what makes the language of archaism particularly rich and meaningful.

The additional inscription can possibly be dated in accordance with 1575, but in the absence of any recorded information about Zhang Pixun, could actually correspond to any of the following dates: 1635; 1695; 1755; 1805 or 1865. The inscriptions only note that Zhang made a gift of the incense burner, apparently to a temple.  It may have been a treasured antiquity by the time it was inscribed, which presumably accounts for the invocation of the God of the Fire-spark.