A RETICULATED PARCEL-GILT BRONZE 'MYTHICAL BEAST' INCENSE BURNER AND COVER QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD

of elliptical section, cast with a deep rounded body decorated on the exterior with a frieze enclosing a scene of leaping mythical creatures against a ground of cresting waves, interrupted by a pair of handles on the short sides cast as well-defined mythical beast mask handles suspending 'C'-shaped rings, all supported on a pedestal foot bordered with a band of pendent lotus petals, the base with an apocryphal six-character Xuande mark within a recessed panel, the domed cover of corresponding form and reticulated with a ground of lingzhi-shaped cloud swirls beneath two sinuous dragons chasing 'flaming pearls', surmounted by a knop finial in the form of a coiled dragon amidst clouds, the patina of a variegated copper-brown colour

Philip K. Hu, Later Chinese Bronzes - The Saint Louis Art Museum and Robert Kresko Collections, St. Louis, 2008, cat. no. 18.