The incense burner is finely cast in the form of an archaistic fangding vessel, the elegant dragon legs a stylised version of the Shang dynasty prototype. The intricate decoration of the bajixiang (‘Eight Buddhist Emblems’) is closely related to that seen on incense burners from the workshop of Hu Wenming, the design itself typical of the late Ming.
For similar decoration on cloisonne enamel of the same period, see a Wanli reign-marked white-ground cloisonne enamel incense burner, enamelled with bajixiang interspersed with scrolling lotus on a white-ground in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete collects ion of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 49.
The ‘Eight Buddhist Emblems’ comprises the wheel of law, conch-shell, umbrella, canopy, lotus, jar, double-fish and mystic knot. Each symbol represents an aspect of the teachings and philosophy of the Buddhist doctrine.
