A MASSIVE BRONZE DING QIANLONG MARK AND PERIOD

based on the archaic bronze food vessel, the globular body studded with 'sun whorl' bosses around the waisted neck and flanked by two upright 'U'-shaped handles, all supported on three stocky cabriole legs, each cast with a ruyi-shaped cloud, the surface with green oxidation over the bronze surface, chased below the lip with a six-character horizontal reign mark

Acquired in Hong Kong in 1941-42 and transported to Switzerland where it was displayed at the entrance of a castle. 

Aion Centro Culturale, Ascona, Switzerland, 2009.

The bronze is very solid with only a 2 x 3 cm casting hole beneath the handle and a casting crack on the shoulder on the back and a few minor casting pits to the surface. One handle is inscribed in black ink with a few illegible Chinese characters. The overall condition is very good.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present censer is remarkable for its massive size, and was produced to be placed outside palace entrances for rituals and ceremonies. The enormity of the vessel would have allowed for an impressive display and its size endows it with an architectural quality. In its form it closely follows the archaic ritual bronze ding and the whorls also derive from archaic decorative motifs, which coupled with the cloud-like scrolls decorating the top of the legs gives this piece a contemporary feel.

For examples of these ding censers, but with additional cylindrical covers, located on the grounds of the Forbidden City, see four flanking the entrance to the Qianqinggong (Palace of Heavenly Purity), included in Wan-go Weng and Yang Boda, The Palace Museum: Peking. Treasures of the Forbidden City, London, 1982, p. 51 (lower image); and at the Cininggong (Mansion of Motherly Tranquility), published in the exhibition catalogue Splendors of China's Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong, The Field Museum, Chicago, 2004, pl. 207.

The Qianlong emperor developed his understanding of China's antiquity through his long education in the Chinese classics and soon learned that a sign of a legitimate ruler was the possession of bronzes of the ancient dynasties. Together with military achievement and just administration, the possession of ancient artefacts was evidence of a ruler's virtue, a virtue that was necessary to sustain legitimacy to the throne. While the archaic bronzes Qianlong amassed were intended to serve antiquarian interests, he also used them to provide models that would enable further vessels to be made for offerings to the ancestors.