A huanghuali incense stand, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period | 清康熙 黃花梨束腰方香几

Known as an incense stand, a stand like the present piece was traditionally used as a platform for incense burners during rituals or prayers. A depiction of its typical use is illustrated in a Yuan Dynasty painting, Vimalakirti and the Doctrine of Nonduality by Wang Zhengpeng (c. 1280-1329), from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where a Buddhist lion-shaped burner with a lotus stand was placed above an incense stand, which is elegantly draped with a well decorated and jewel-adorned fabric, see Sarah Handler, Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkeley, 2001, p. 296, fig. 17.1. As described in Zhusheng bajian (Eight discourses on a healthful lifestyle) by late Ming literati Gao Lian (1573-1620), they could also serve versatile purposes, from displaying stones or strange rocks to presenting citrus fruit, and flower-filled vases, in addition to holding an incense burner.

Compare a related lacquer stand but in a smaller size, bearing a Daqing Kangxi nianzhi mark and of the period, from Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Hu Desheng, A Treasury of Ming & Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, vol. II, Beijing and Chicago, 2007, p. 641, fig. 759; and one made of blackwood with sophisticated carving in high relief on legs, attributed to the mid-Qing period, also from the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Hu Desheng, A Treasury of Ming & Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, vol. I, Beijing and Chicago, 2007, p. 282, fig. 327.