A RARE GILT-SPLASHED BRONZE INCENSE BURNER, China, 17th / 18th century

h cm 3,2 x d cm 17,4

Resting on three ruyi-shaped feet, the short body is finely cast in a band to scale widening upwards from which rises the widest mouth and which falls inward; the whole body is wonderfully decorated with gold spots; at the center of the base bears the apocryphal circular mark of the Emperor Xuande, as well as on the edge is the apocryphal mark engraved with six characters of the Emperor Xuande and a number corresponding to 332 (叁 佰 叁 拾 贰 號), probably an inventory number.