An Inscribed Gold and Silver Inlaid Bronze Incense Burner, Gui By Hu Wenming, Ming Dynasty, Wanli Period, Dated in Accordance with 1583

of archaistic gui form, the gently rounded body supported on a deep, splayed foot, integrally cast with two handles in the form of stylised taotie depicted consuming their own bodies, the two main sides each with an identical design cast in varying levels relief of a dissolved taotie face, spread out on either side of a raised flange decorated with a vertical line of continuous leiwen scroll, above an outer-footrim band of two confronting dragons depicted enclosing the character wang (‘king’), the neck decorated with a central taotie flanked by alternating whorl symbols and stylised flower heads, all set on a leiwen ground,  the outer neck and footrim with an additional band of continuous leiwen, each of a different configuration, the handles with the facial features in relief and the bodies decorated with archaistic motifs, the detail all inlaid in gold and silver, the interior incised with a zhuanshu inscription Zizi sunsun yongbao (‘To be treasured eternally by innumerable descendants’), the foot incised with a zhuanshu inscription Wanli guiwei juyue Yunjian Hu Wenming zhi (‘Made by Hu Wenming of Yunjian in the chrysanthemum [ninth] month of the guiwei year’, corresponding to 1583)

Betty James Westbrook Collection, Connecticut, USA.
Sotheby’s Parke Bernet, New York, 25th February 1982, lot 295a.

Gerard Tsang and Hugh Moss, 'Chinese Metalwork of the Hu Wenming Group', Handbook, International Asian Antiques Fair, Hong Kong, 1984, p. 34, fig. 1. 
Gerard Tsang and Hugh Moss, Arts from the Scholar’s Studio, Fung Ping Shan Museum, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 1986, cat. no. 73.

Aschwin Lippe, ‘Two Archaistic Bronzes of the Ming Dynasty,’ Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, XI, 1957, p. 78.
Sheila Riddell, Dated Chinese Antiquities 600-1650, London, 1979, p. 140, pl. 128.
Ulrich Hausmann, 'Later Chinese Bronzes', ed. Paul Moss, Documentary Chinese Works of Art in Scholars’ Taste, London, 1983, p. 235.

There are minor dents and minute chips to the foot and upper rim. Other minor scratching to the body, general surface wear and oxidisation. The patina is slightly darker than in the catalogue photo; the gold is more brilliant in reality.
"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.
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This outstanding incense burner, cast in the form of a ritual archaic bronze gui vessel, is arguably the finest example of all the works produced by the metalworker Hu Wenming. One of only a small number of dated examples, its precise dating to 1583 in the Wanli period is of crucial importance to the dating of his entire output of work. Clearly, this is one of a small number of superb pieces where the boldness of the casting and the quality of the inlaid decoration in unusually thick gold and silver suggests that they are the work of Hu Wenming himself rather than his workshop.

For another Hu Wenming gold-inlaid gui incense burner preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see Power and Glory: Court Arts of China's Ming Dynasty, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 2008, cat. no. 111. Other examples of compare quality include the ding censer attributed to Hu Wenming in the Victoria & Albert Museum, from the Harry Garner Collection, illustrated by Rose Kerr, Later Chinese Bronzes, London, 1990, pl. 41, and the pou incense burner (dated in accordance to 1613) formerly in the Dr. and Mrs. Peter Plesch Collection and later the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat Collection, sold in these rooms, 4th April 2012, lot 118.