An exceptional and rare pair of bronze 'dragon' tripod censers, Marks and period of Qianlong | 清乾隆 銅雲龍戲珠紋朝冠耳三足爐一對 《大清乾隆年造》款

An exceptional and rare pair of bronze 'dragon' tripod censers

Marks and period of Qianlong

清乾隆 銅雲龍戲珠紋朝冠耳三足爐一對 《大清乾隆年造》款

each globular body resting on three cabriole legs issuing from ferocious beast masks and rising to a recessed neck and galleried rim, the shoulder set with a pair of pierced S-curve handles, the body crisply cast in high relief with two pairs of dragons each contesting a 'flaming pearl' surrounded by flame wisps and lingzhi-shaped clouds, the motif repeated at the handles, the shoulder with a ruyi collar beneath a band of florets encircling the neck, the exterior of the rim cast with an archaistic kuilong scroll between two keyfret borders and centering a six-character horizontal mark within a rectangular cartouche, metal rim liners (4)

Width across handles 11¼ in., 28.5 cm