BRONZE CENSER
QIANQING GONG MARK, QING DYNASTY, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
清 乾清宮款 銅蚰耳爐of compressed globular form rising to everted mouth supported on a short splayed foot, flanked to both sides with loop handles, centre of the base cast with a three-character ‘Qian Qing Gong’ mark within a circle enclosed by a dragon amongst ferocious waves 
15cm wide across handles; 731g
From the collection of George Forrest (13 March 1873 - 5 January 1932). George Forrest was an important Scottish botanist born in Falkirk. In 1904, he was sponsored by a horticulturist and cotton broker- Arthur Kilpin Bulley (1861-1942), to embark on an expedition to China's then-remote southwestern province of Yunnan, in search of plants new to horticulture in Europe, particularly species of rhododendron. Altogether, Forrest made seven trips to the region, ranging as far afield as upper Burma, eastern Tibet and Sichuan province. In 1932, he passed away just outside of the town of Tengchong, previously known as Tengyue or Tengyueh.His Asian Art collection was partially donated to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. The censer was on loan for decades, loan number A.L.331.5, with an inscribed loan number ‘L.331.5’ on the inner wall of the foot rim, deaccessioned in 2023, thence by direct descent. The old photograph shows Mr Forrest outside the China Inland Mission Moongate in Dali, taken around 1905.We would like to express our gratitude to 'George Forrest / Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’ for providing the old photograph and its information. 
Qianqing Gong, The Palace of Heavenly Purity, or Qianqing Palace (乾清宫) is a palace in the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. It is the largest of the three halls of the Inner Court, located at the northern end of the Forbidden City. During the Qing dynasty, the palace often served as the Emperor's audience hall, where he held council with the Grand Council. Objects, especially censers, bearing Qianqing Gong mark are deemed similar to ‘Neitan Jiaoshe’ mark (內壇郊社, refers to the altar to Heaven and Earth within the inner walls of the Temple of Heaven) as Imperial wares adorning or used in their specific rooms. A comparable bronze censer in shape and size, with similar loop handles, similarly decorated with two dragons in flight on crashing waves on the base but marked ‘Neitan Jiaoshe’, previously in the Qing Court collection, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing, museum no. Gu 故00177014. The catalogue notes that in 2010, Geng Baochang, a veteran researcher from the Palace Museum, dates this censer as of the Ming dynasty.