EG 108 · Bronzes

Bronze Censer with Upright Handles

Censer of chong'er form

A low, wide censer of bronze with two upright loop handles and three stub feet. Plain, heavy, and well-proportioned.

This is the chong'er form: the handles rise from the rim like ears, the body swells and sits on three short feet. There is no decoration at all, which is the point; the shape and the surface do the work. The bronze has a warm brown skin with darker patches.

It holds incense, or nothing. On a desk or a mantel it gives a room a quiet center of gravity, and it takes up very little space.

The base carries a four-character seal-script mark, shown in the inset. We describe it as a mark and not as a date.