Asian Art in London
4th-14th November 2010
3. A Gilt-Bronze Hand-Held Censer, Queweilu
7th Century, Sui-Early Tang Dynasty
The censer has a deep rounded bowl standing on a stem-foot issued from four spade-shaped petals above a circular drip dish. The high domed cover is pierced with scrolling clouds, below a bird-shaped finial. The bronze has an attractive malachite patina with areas of lapis encrustations.
43 cm. long; 12 cm. high
A similar censer is in the collection of the Hakutsuru Museum, Kobe
Although queweilu, or ‘magpie-tail censer’, of this early form are often seen depicted on Buddhist sculptures and murals from the Northern Wei onwards, there are very few extant examples. An inlaid lacquered bronze example is in the Shosoin, Nara; while another bronze example is in the Hakutsuru Museum, Kobe; with a 3rd silver example excavated from the Famensi hoard. The current censer is more closely related to the Hakutsuru example, both sharing very similar proportions and design. The current censer probably originally had a liner, like the Hakutsuru example, which has now been lost.
However, several characteristics on the current censer suggest it is of an earlier date. The lion counter-weight on the current censer is modelled more softly, which is typical of Sui, rather than the pronounced musculature of the Tang pieces. The heart-shaped lotus petals with the raised central grooves also suggest an early date. Both these features can be seen on the bronze Buddha group in the Boston Museum of Art dated to the 6th century, and the gilt bronze group excavated in Dongbalicun outside Xi’an. The horned mythical beasts around the exterior are also comparable to the beasts found on the outer band of a bronze mirror dated to the Sui dynasty in the Hakutsuru Museum.
A very similar queweilu is carried by a Bodhisattva on a wall painting in cave 159 in Dunhuang; dating to the mid-Tang; and another example with a cover is depicted in cave 220.
