A cloisonné enamel tripod incense burner


16th century, the handles laterThe wide vessel of a globular bombé-form and raised on three tapering legs, the exterior brightly enamelled with lotus flower heads on a scrolling leafy meander, all reserved on a blue ground, flanked with later added gilt-bronze beast mask handles. 26.5cm (10 3/8in) wide
|According to a discussion in B.Quette, Cloisonné: Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, New York, 2011, it appears it was common practice in the Qing Dynasty to re-model cloisonné enamel pieces of the preceding dynasties with gilt bronze mounts. Whilst the present lot has had two extra, well-cast beast mask handles added, unusually it has managed to retain its original tripod legs.