Bonhams. Roger Keverne Ltd Moving On (Part II), London, New Bond Street, 7 June 2021
A tall painted lacquer incense-burner stand, xiangji, Mid Qing Dynasty
Lot 674. A tall painted lacquer incense-burner stand, xiangji, Mid Qing Dynasty; 89.5cm (35 2/8in) high x 37cm (14 1/2in) diam. Estimate: £1,000 - £1,500. Sold for £ 7,650 (€ 8,895). Courtesy Sotheby's.
With circular top and constricted waist supported on five flanged tall curling legs terminating in curving 'slipper' feet standing on a circular plinth, finely decorated with designs of bats amidst wispy clouds and beaded scrolls, all between leiwen bands and above blossoming flowers.
Note: Stands of this type were used both in religious and secular contexts to hold incense burners and flower vases. An earlier stand of this type is portrayed in situ on a woodblock print from chapter 18 of the famous novel Jin Pin Mei (The Plum in the Golden Vase), reproduced in C.Clunas, 'The Novel Jin Ping Mei as a Source for the Study of Ming Furniture', Orientations, January 1992, p.62, pl.5. See a related painted lacquer circular, five-legged table dated 1637, illustrated by Lee Yu-kuan, Oriental Lacquer Art, New York and Tokyo, 1972, p.323.
Compare also with a pair of lacquer incense stands, Kangxi, which was sold at Sotheby's New York, 12 September 2018, lot 265.