AN ARCHAISTIC BRONZE TRIPOD CENSER, DING, WITH AN ATTRACTIVE WOOD STAND AND COVER WITH JADE LINGZHI FINIAL
Ming dynasty
The bowl-shaped censer with a wide band of stylized taotie and leiwen divided by four vertical flanges and all supported on three flat-backed cabriole legs, the rim everted and with two inverted U-shaped handles, the interior cast with a sixteen-character archaic script, the bronze with an attractive applied malachite patination.
7 7/8in (20cm) high and across of the bronze vessel
13 1/2in (34.2cm) high overall
Footnotes:
明 仿古青銅饕餮紋靈芝玉紐簋式薰爐
銘文：__ __中 司殳 父乍中姜簋子子孫孫永寶用亨考

Provenance:
James E. Breece III

來源：
James E. Breece III舊藏

The characters inscribed inside the bronze vessel are reversed, probably because the artisan who cast the piece lacked a working knowledge of the original bronze script. The inscription can be translated as 'Zhong__fu produced this Zhongjiang gui vessel for the later generations to treasure.' Zhongjiang might be the daughter of Zhong__fu, who commissioned the vessel as her daughter's dowry.

Like many Ming and Qing archaic bronze vessels, the present lot preserves information on probably lost early bronzes through the meaningful practice of reproduction.

For another, slightly later, bronze ding with the addition of silver inlay and similarly standing on a wood stand with matching wood cover fitted with a jade finial, see Christie's Hong Kong, October 6th, 2015, lot 180.