A large gilt-splashed bronze censer, Late Ming dynasty | 明末 銅灑金魚耳大爐

American Private Collection, acquired in the late 19th century.

美國私人收藏，得於19世紀末

While gold-splashed bronze censers are found in important collections worldwide, it is rare to find examples of such large size. This censer is impressive for its size and its exceptionally rich gilding, suggesting that it was made, possibly on commission, by the court or a high ranking official with no expense spared.

The origin of gold-splashed decoration remains a source of speculation. Gerard Tsang and Hugh Moss in Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, p. 184, mention that the popularity of this surface decoration was possibly fostered by Xuande bronzes of the Ming dynasty where the appearance of gilt-splashes was caused by the uneven surface patination of the vessel. Some scholars have linked gilt-splashed decoration on bronzes to qingbai and Longquan wares of the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. In China's Renaissance in Bronze, Phoenix, 1993, p. 169, Robert Mowry mentions the appearance of fine paper enlivened with flecks of gold and silver from the early 15th century and suggests that this 'might have also played a role in the creation of such abstract decoration, either directly inspiring those who designed the bronzes or indirectly molding taste to appreciate objects sprinkled with gold and silver'. Furthermore, R. Soame Jenyns and William Watson in Chinese Art. The Minor Arts II, London, 1963, p. 166, illustrate a bronze double vase with gold inlay in the form of splashes, pl. 50, which the authors describe as 'decorated with elaborately simulated patches of apparent corrosion, the rough projecting parts consisting of pure gold, resembling un-worked nuggets and grains inserted into the bronze'.

See a closely related censer, attributed to the late Ming dynasty, in the collection of Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, illustrated in Hilda Mak and Amber Chan, '#popcolours: The Aesthetics of Hues in Antiquities from the HKMoA Collection', Arts of Asia, Spring 2022, fig. 21. Compare a smaller example, decorated with a wide irregular gilt-splashed band across the body, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29th May 2006, lot 1515. See another gilt-splashed bronze censer, of different form but with a similar mark, sold in these rooms, 15th-16th September 2015, lot 227.