Step 3 of 8

A refined ding

Related Images

  • Fig 4: Incense Burner, Syria (Mamluk Sultanate, 1250-1517), c. 1280-90 - [The Courtauld Gallery](https://courtauld.ac.uk/highlights/incense-burner/)
  • Fig 5: ‘Chinese Rare Books’, _Chongxiu Xuanhe bogu tu_ - [Curiosity Collections, Harvard Library](https://curiosity.lib.harvard.edu/chinese-rare-books/catalog/49-990077587390203941)
  • Fig 6: Song Celadon Incense Burner, c. 1127-1279 – [The British Museum](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1947-0712-115)
  • Fig 7: Late Shang bronze ritual food vessel - [Sotheby’s](https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/chinese-art-including-property-from-the-collection-of-cheng-huan/an-archaic-bronze-ritual-food-vessel-ding-late?locale=en)
  • Fig 8: Late Shang bronze ritual wine vessel, jue - [Collection of Dr. L Carrington Goodrich (1894-1986), Sotheby’s](https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/chinese-art-including-property-from-the-collection-of-cheng-huan/an-archaic-bronze-ritual-wine-vessel-jue-late?locale=en)
  • Fig 9: Western Zhou bronze tripod cauldron, ding, 11th century BC - [The Metropolitan Museum of Art](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/53560)

Incense burners in the Islamic world are generally made of brass and/or copper. They are often globe-shaped and perforated. They can be held in the hand, suspended from chains, or rolled across the floor from one person to another.The Courtauld, ‘Incense Burner: Syria (Mamluk Sultanate, 1250-1517), Around 1280-90’, (accessed 09/08/2021)

​​In the Chinese realm, censers have their origins in the tripod (three-legged) vessels of Neolithic pottery. The earliest examples in bronze date from the first dynasties of China, the Shang (c. 1500-1050 BC) and the Zhou (c. 1050-221 BC) when large numbers of fine bronze containers for food and alcohol were made and used for ritual feasting, that is, holding banquets with and for the ancestors. The belief is that when food, wine or alcohol is properly prepared, it will be received by the dead ancestors and will nourish them. In return for this nourishment, those ancestors will look after their descendants. These bronze vessels were prized possessions for use in life, but when a major figure or member of the elite died, it was believed that he would carry on offering food and wine to his ancestors in the afterlife. That is why almost all the archaic Chinese bronze vessels that survive today were buried in tombs and hoards in their previous life. Neil MacGregor with Jessica Rawson and Wang Tao. ‘The Chinese Zhou Ritual Vessel’, A History of the World in 100 Objects Podcast, Episode 3 of 5, The British Museum, BBC Radio 4, (accessed 01/08/2021)

These bronzes would have come as a set of vessels of different sizes, rather like a set of saucepans in a modern kitchen. Each vessel shape had a specific role. The tripod ding, with a deep, U-shaped body supported by three tall legs, was used for serving food and as a cauldron for cooking, while the tripod jue was used for wine libations. The jue’s tripod shape enabled the wine held in a container to be heated. Another version of the ding is characterised by a globular body and truncated legs – a shape assumed by our incense burner.

The ding features prominently in the legend of China’s first dynasty in which King Yu (c. 2123-2025 BC) divided the realm into nine provinces, each represented by one of nine ding. As the dynasty gave way to the Shang and later the Zhou, the idea of possessing bronze ding had become synonymous with political legitimacy and sovereignty., Sotheby’s, ‘Symbols of Power in Archaic Bronze Forms | Chinese Works of Art’ (accessed 06/08/2021).

​​In the Song dynasty (960-1279), the shape of the ding tripod was rediscovered as part of the revival of ancient traditions. Bronzes and porcelains that were made in this period were inspired by ritual vessels, but served a variety of functions unknown to their ancient models. They were primarily used as censers, vases, and implements for the scholar’s desk. These bronzes and porcelains became symbols of the Song’s engagement with the past. China’s Renaissance in Bronze, p. 9.

The circulation of prints during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) rekindled people’s interest in the ancient shape, ding. Xuanhe bogu tu and Kaogu tu_ were two descriptive Song catalogues of antiques that survived in the Ming period, and from which Ming people learned and widened their understanding of ancient vessel shapes.Yahwei Hsu, ‘Mingdai moqi gutongqi zhishi yu fanggu tong qì’ [Knowledge on antique bronzes and their reproduction during the late Ming]’, in Through the Prism of the Past: Antiquarian Trends Chinese Art of the 16th to 18th Century, (Taipei, 2003), p. 265.Their fascination for bronze age forms had a huge impact on popular culture and saw the refinement of bronze shapes and the elevation of the globular tripod censer into one of the most revered shapes of all Chinese bronzes. Sotheby’s, 7 Things You Need to Know About Incense Burners (accessed 06/08/2021.)

All this tells us that our bronze is a refined ding which owes its form and shape to a long history of fascination for ancient objects and use of archaic forms into new contexts. Speaking of context, what does our censer’s embellishment (or lack thereof) tell us? Let’s find out in the next step!