The censer is well potted in the form of a small lian censer, the cylindrical body moulded with three concave bands and raised on three U-shaped bamboo feet, the base with three small faux-spur marks, covered overall with a rich brown glaze highlighted with gold flecks in imitation of gilt-splashed bronze. Japanese basket weave silver cover, Japanese wood box

Provenance: Sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 April 2003, lot 529

Note: n the 18th century, porcelain was frequently used to simulate works of art made from other media, including entirely gilt-bronze or gilt-splashed varieties. An almost identical censer, also bearing a Qianlong mark, was sold at Sotheby’s London, 9 June 1992, lot 268. Compare also other types of simulated gilt-splashed bronze, such as the bulb bowl with a Qianlong mark, illustrated by J. Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. 2, Geneva, 1999, pl. 254 [A655].

Christie's. The Imperial Sale / Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31 May 2017, Convention Hall