Lot 21. A rare Arabic-inscribed bronze cylindrical tripod censer, Zhengde cast six-character mark and of the period (1506-1521); 8 in. (20.3 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 20,000 - GBP 30,000. Price realised GBP 212,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2018.

The censer is finely cast in relief to the exterior with a long Arabic inscription, between two bands of incised lotus scroll, supported on three lotus-form feet.  

Provenance: Collection of the late Soame Jenyns (1904-1976), then by descent within the family.

Note: The inscription seen on the current censer is Qur’anic (Qur’an, Surah 2:255) and is a commonly-used prayer called Ayat al-Kursi from the Throne verse, popular for its protective properties. It is often seen on talismanic and amuletic objects such as ‘magic’ bowls, arms and armour and talismanic shirts. From an Islamic point of view, it was believed that the content of objects decorated with such texts, would have benefited from the barakah of the holy text that was inscribed on the object. 

The prayer can be translated as follows:  

Allah! There is no God but He, 
the Living, the Self-subsisting, the Eternal. 
No slumber can seize Him, nor sleep. 
All things in heaven and earth are His. 
Who could intercede in His presence without His permission? 
He knows what appears in front of and behind His creatures. 
Nor can they encompass any knowledge of Him except what he wills. 
His throne extends over the heavens and the earth, 
and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them, 
for He is the Highest and Most Exalted.
Allah, speaks the truth. 

Bronze censers with Zhengde reign marks and of the period, cast with Arabic inscriptions are very rare. Other known examples are more commonly decorated with panels enclosing shorter dedicatory inscriptions to Allah and the prophet Muhammad. The long Qur’anic prayer encircling the sides of the current censer is in very fine hand and is highly unusual. The Zhengde emperor is known to have had a keen interest in the Islamic religion and to have studied Arabic language. It is therefore unsurprising that the introduction of Arabic Islamic script on bronze vessels first occurred around 1500, coinciding with his reign period. This series of Islamic-inspired bronzes led to the introduction of blue and white ceramic wares with Arabic and Persian inscriptions, bearing Zhengde reign marks. It is thought that these ceramic wares were made for Muslim Eunuchs at the Ming court. 

The incised lotus scroll borders and ruyi-form feet seen on the current censer are echoed on a cylindrical censer decorated with three lobed cartouches of Islamic inscription but with an apocryphal Xuande mark and dated to the 16th century, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 4 April 2012, lot 143. 

A large bronze Arabic-inscribed censer, Ming dynasty, 16th century; 13 cm., 5 1/8 in. Sold for 800,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 4 April 2012, lot 143. © Sotheby's.

of cylindrical form raised on three lobed feet detailed with foliate scrolls, decorated around the exterior with a broad band enclosing three lobed cartouches cast in relief with an Arabic inscription reading 'There is no God but The [one] God, and Mohammad is the messenger of God' on a finely punched and patinated ground resembling leather, below a band of undulating leafy lotus encircling the flat rim, the base inscribed with a recessed apocryphal six-character Xuande mark in a rectangular cartouche, the bronze patinated to a rich coppery-brown colour.

Note: The Arabic inscription on this vessel may be translated as follows:

 There is no God but the [one] God, and Mohammad is the messenger of God.

Censers of this type, decorated with an Arabic inscription, are rare although a similar example, but with simpler foliate panels and a different set of inscriptions, in the Steven Hung and Lindy Chern collections, was included in the exhibition Chinese Incence Burners. Collection of Steven Hung and Lindy Chern, National Museum of History, Taipei, 2000, cat. no. 72. See also a ding-shaped censer bearing an Arabic script, from the Clague collection, illustrated in Robert Mowry, China's Renaissance in Bronze. The Robert Clague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900, Phoenix Art Museum, 1993, cat. no.  25, where the author notes that it may have been part of a three-piece altar set. Compare also a censer and a jug with gold and silver inlay decoration that includes a lengthy Arabic inscription, published in Rose Kerr, Later Chinese Bronzes, London, 1990, pl. 43, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; and a tripod censer sold in our London rooms, 12th June 1990, lot 39.  

Bronze censers decorated with Arabic inscriptions came to influence the making of a distinctive group of heavily potted blue-and-white porcelains, all bearing Zhengde imperial marks on the bases and the body decorated with Arabic or Persian inscriptions. Jessica Harrison-Hall in Ming Porcelain in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 188, notes that it is possible that these wares 'were used by literate Muslim eunuchs at court or by the emperor, who was fascinated by foreign scripts.' For examples of blue-and-white wares with Arabic or Persian inscription in the British Museum see ibid., pls. 8:3-8:11, including an incense burner (8:11) with six roundels each bearing an Arabic phrase.  A porcelain censer of similar cylindrical form as the present piece, the exterior inscribed in underglaze-blue with a lengthy Persian inscription consisting of the verses of Sa'di, was sold in our London rooms, 6th July 1976, lot 151.

Two further ceramic censers of this shape, also with Arabic inscriptions in panels are illustrated in Kaikodo Journal, XXIV. Material Witness, New York, 2008, p. 166, where it is explained that the form derives from Han period prototypes known as zun or lian which were used for containing wine.

For Zhengde mark and period examples with Arabic cartouches, see a censer included in the exhibition catalogue Emperor, Scholar, Artisan, Monk, Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, 1984, no. 118; and two censers sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 May 2005, lot 1395 and 29 May 2007, lot 1657.