A magnificent large cloisonné enamel tripod incense burner, Early Ming dynasty

Kubera Art, France, 2006.

This superb incense burner belongs to one of the exceptional cloisonné works created in the early 15th century for Buddhist usage, at a time when the Yongle (1403-1424) and likewise the Xuande Emperor (1426-1435) were deeply involved in all artistic production of the empire and recruited the greatest artisans to create objects in a variety of media for use in Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies. A smaller example from the Qing court collection and still in Beijing is illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum. Enamels, vol. 1, Cloisonné in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, Beijing, 2011, pl. 35. See also a related example, later mounted with gilt-bronze ‘birds’ handles, in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, published in Béatrice Quette, Cloisonné: Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, New York, 2011, fig. 3.11. See also anincense burner with original handles such as the present lot at the Bristol City Art Gallery (acc.no.N8195).

For other examples that have appeared at auction, see a cloisonné enamel tripod incense burner, attributed to the Xuande period, sold at Christie’s Paris, 13^th June 2007, lot 1, from the collection of Juan José Amezaga, and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 2nd December 2015, lot 3106; and another example sold at Christie’s London, 3rd November 2020, lot 79.