ding(censer) BM-1938-0524.23

Period:Ming dynasty Production date:1573-1620
Materials:porcelain
Technique:glazed, painted, underglazed,
Subjects:dragon
Dimensions:Diameter: 15.50 centimetres Height: 17.70 centimetres

Description:
Porcelain ‘ding’ (tripod incense burner) with openwork moulded underglaze blue and overglaze yellow decoration. This round incense burner is supported by three feet in the form of horned dragons, resting the weight of the vessel on their shoulders and supporting the bowl with their front paws. They snake their reptilian bodies around the sides of the vessel and two of them encompass the curved upright handles, while their tails terminate in bifurcated scrolls. The handles frame an openwork design of ‘lingzhi’ fungus. On the base is a six-character underglaze blue Wanli reign mark in a double ring with an outer single ring. Around this and over the body inside and out, the vessel is enamelled yellow. Inside, where it is enamelled directly on to the biscuit body, the yellow appears much darker, like amber.
IMG


Comments:Harrison-Hall 2001:A tripod incense burner of the same form, decorated in enamels on the biscuit with a deeper yellow ground with moulded dragon decoration, was excavated from the Ding Ling, the stone tomb of the emperor Wanli, his empress and concubine outside Beijing. The porcelain incense burner was positioned on the northern side of the outer coffin of the Wanli emperor. It contained a bronze frame with three bronze vertical prongs for supporting incense sticks. The form of the incense burner is loosely based on an ancient bronze food vessel called a ‘ding’.