MING DYNASTY, 16TH-17TH CENTURY

Censers of this form are also referred to as ‘narcissus bowls’, and they may have been used to fulfill a number of functions on the desk of the scholar. A similar vessel is illustrated in scroll 6 of the imperial Guwan Tu ('Pictures of Ancient Playthings') dated to 1728 in the collection of Sir Percival David currently on loan to the British Museum (ref. PDF X01), which suggests that the scholarly object also found favor at court.

A similar low-sided vessel with chilong handles, dated to the 16th-17th century, is illustrated by P. Moss, The Second Bronze Age, Hong Kong, 1991, no. 43.