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PROPERTY FROM THE LI FAN THOMPSON COLLECTION 範麗藏品
Lot 129

A BLUE-GLAZED INCENSE BURNER
Ming Dynasty

Fine Chinese Art
15 May 2025, 11:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £21,760 inc. premium

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A BLUE-GLAZED INCENSE BURNER

Ming Dynasty
Of compressed globular body supported on a waisted foot, flanked by a pair of elephant-head handles, covered on the exterior with a blue glaze, the interior and base glazed white, with a fitted box.
16cm (6 1/4in) wide. (2).

Footnotes

明 祭蓝釉象耳炉

Provenance: Dr Carl Kempe (1884-1967), Sweden
The Li Fan Thompson collection, London

Published and Illustrated: B.Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics: In the Carl Kempe Collection, Goteborg, 1964, p.233, no.789 (dated as early Ming dynasty)

來源： 瑞典Carl Kempe博士(1884-1967)
範麗收藏，倫敦

著錄： B.Gyllensvärd，《Chinese Ceramics: In the Carl Kempe Collection》，哥德堡，1964年，第233頁，編號789（斷代為明早期）

Dr. Carl Kempe (1884-1967) was a prominent Swedish industrialist who served as the CEO of Mo och Domsjö AB, a leading company in the Swedish pulp and paper industry. Dr. Kempe resided at Ekolsund, a historic former Swedish royal palace, where he also maintained his distinguished art collection. As an early and active member of the Oriental Ceramic Society, he amassed one of the finest European collections of Chinese art created in the mid-twentieth century.

The rich blue glaze adorning the present lot is a high-temperature monochrome glaze, derived from cobalt oxide as its primary colorant. Traditionally associated with Court ritual vessels, it is often referred to as 'sacrificial blue' (祭藍 ji lan) glaze. First developed during the Yuan dynasty, this distinctive glaze was predominantly used for Imperial ritual and display wares during the early to mid-Ming dynasty. The Qing dynasty Notes on the Southern Kilns (南窯筆記 Nanyao biji) records: 'The Xuande kiln... also produced three types: sacrificial red, sacrificial blue, and sweet white. They are among the best.' (宣窯......又有霽紅、霽青、甜白三種，尤為上品) The production of sacrificial blue-glazed vessels was relatively limited, establishing it as one of the period's more refined and exclusive glaze types.

See a blue-glazed incense burner of similar shape and colour but flanked by a pair of chi-dragon handles, Jiajing period, in the Qing Court Collection, Palace Museum, Beijing (acc.no. 故00144678).

Additional information

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