A large spinach-green hardstone tiered 'pagoda' incense burner and cover


Late Qing Dynasty/early Republic period The dark green stone flecked with brighter green and ochre inclusions, the body raised on three animal-mask legs and carved with archaistic chilong scrolls, flanked by two reticulated scroll handles each suspending a loose ring, the neck also with reticulated square scrolls, surmounted by a three-layered reticulated cylindrical parfumier carved with shou characters and the central band set with four chilong each wrapped around a scroll-like embellishment, the cover shaped as a six-peaked tiled roof, each peak terminating in a mythical beast suspending a loose-ring bell, all surmounted by a tall tiered finial carved with three chilong handles beneath bats amidst cloud scrolls, wood stand, fitted box.64.5cm (24 3/8in) high (6).
|ProvenanceA Swiss private collection, and thence by descent.Compare a related jasper incense burner in the shape of a pagoda, illustrated in the Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade 10, Beijing, 2011, pp.144-145, pl.106.