Gigi Yu
Head of Department
Lot 315
A RARE SET OF SPINACH-GREEN JADE INCENSE GARNITURE SET
18th century
29 May 2023, 13:00 HKT
Hong Kong, AdmiraltyHK$400,000 - HK$600,000
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Spring Lee
Specialist
Tracy Hui
Cataloguer
A RARE SET OF SPINACH-GREEN JADE INCENSE GARNITURE SET
18th century
Comprising three vessels: a censer, tool vase and incense powder-box; the censer and cover, carved around the body with archaistic mask patterns, flanked by a pair of beast-head handles, supported on a lightly splayed ring foot; the tool vase of slender baluster form; and the circular incense powder-box and cover, the cover carved with a floral motif.
Censer: 16cm (6 1/4in) wide, box; tool vase: 16.5cm (6 1/2in) high; powder-box: 7.8cm (3 1/8in) diam., box
Comprising three vessels: a censer, tool vase and incense powder-box; the censer and cover, carved around the body with archaistic mask patterns, flanked by a pair of beast-head handles, supported on a lightly splayed ring foot; the tool vase of slender baluster form; and the circular incense powder-box and cover, the cover carved with a floral motif.
Censer: 16cm (6 1/4in) wide, box; tool vase: 16.5cm (6 1/2in) high; powder-box: 7.8cm (3 1/8in) diam., box
Footnotes
十八世紀 碧玉爐瓶盒三式
It is rare to find a complete incense garniture of this type. The practice of incense burning has prevailed throughout Chinese history. By the Ming dynasty, vessels for this particular purpose were often found in formulaic groups of three: a circular box for the storage of incense either in strip, coil or pellet form; a tool vase which accommodated implements such as chopsticks and spatula for raking over ashes; and a censer. Compare to a set of spinach-green jade incense garniture in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade 10 Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, pp.152-153, pl.111.
燕居焚香是宋代至清代文人士大夫的一種生活雅趣，焚香的具體方法是在爐中預置香灰，將香炭燒透後，用瓶中的銅箸夾入灰中淺埋，然以銅鏟將香灰壓平。而作為文房清翫的爐、瓶、盒三事，即指香爐，香瓶及香盒三種器具，則自明代成型。
北京故宮博物院藏清碧玉爐瓶盒一套三式，其紋飾及形制可資參考。收錄於《故宮博物院藏品大系：玉器編10－清》，北京，2011年，頁152-153，圖版111。