This unusual construction, with two tiers, echoing the double gourd form, demonstrates the skill and lively imagination of an 18th century workshop. The peach represents longevity, a popular theme throughout much of Chinese art history, and in this instance the subject matter is playfully conceived with intricately twisting leafy branches and ripe rounded fruit. The wish for longevity is paired with the desire for wealth, represented by the bats both applied in gilt bronze and enameled within the cloisonné design. |A very similar censer, formed as a single peach and dated Kangxi period, was sold at Sotheby's New York, 17 September 2013, sale N09006, lot 280. A related incense burner and cover in the form of a three-lobed peach with applied gilt handles is illustrated by H. Brinker and A. Lutz, Chinese Cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry Collection, Zurich, 1989, no. 293; another related box and cover, shaped as a pomegranate, is illustrated ibid., no. 292.