Lot 48. A small green jade ribbed tripod incense burner, lian, Song-Ming Dynasty; 6cm (2 3/8in) diam. Estimate HK$100,000-150,000. Sold for HK$ 1,360,000 (€ 162,498). Photo Bonhams.

The cylindrical body raised on three short ruyi-shaped feet, decorated with six ribs encircling the body, the stone of yellowish-green tone with calcified patches of opaque brown and buff. 

Note: The form of the present lot derives from gilt-bronze tripod circular incense burners of the Eastern Han period. An example of one such early piece is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Wenwu mingjia dajiangtang. Zhongguo qingtongqi, Beijing, 2008, p.274. These prototypes had a far-reaching influence on a wide range of different mediums in later periods, see for example an earthenware incense burner applied with green glaze, Tang dynasty, illustrated by J.Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, no.51.

Bonham's. The Sze Yuan Tang Collection of Chinese Jades, Hong Kong, Admiralty, 5 April 2016