明 銅回首麒麟香薰

拍品描述

英文品名：A BRONZE QILIN-FORM INCENSE BURNER 尺寸：W:31cm;H:33cm 銅鑄。香薰作麒麟蹲踞回首式：頭部扭轉向天，張口露齒，角耳後豎，頸部鬃毛層捲。軀體滿飾魚鱗紋，脊背以錢紋如意為飾，前一蹄抬起，作欲行之勢。尾部分離為蓋，蓋鏤雕火焰狀孔以出香煙。皮殼棗紅瑩亮，鑄造渾厚，為明代銅瑞獸香薰。麒麟為古傳仁獸，雄曰麒、雌曰麟，麋身牛尾、一角，不踐生蟲、不折生草，古以為王者至仁則出。相傳春秋時魯人獲麟，孔子傷之而絕筆《春秋》，故麟與鳳並稱，為太平祥瑞之兆。瑞獸形香薰多置書齋內室，腹內焚香，煙自脊背鏤孔緩緩溢出，如靈獸吐瑞，兼供賞玩。 A bronze incense burner in the form of a crouching qilin, its head turned back and upward with open jaws, horns and ears erect, and layered mane curling along the neck. The body is fully scaled with fish-scale patterns, the spine decorated with coin-and-cloud motifs, and one foreleg raised as if about to stride. The tail forms the pierced lid, carved in flame-shaped vents to release smoke. The patina is a mellow date-red, the casting weighty. The qilin is the mythic Chinese auspicious beast: male qi and female lin, said to have a deer's body, an ox's tail and a single horn, and to tread not on living insects or break growing grass. Its appearance was taken as a sign of a benevolent reign. Tradition tells that when Lu hunters captured a qilin in Confucius's day, the Master grieved and broke off writing the Spring and Autumn Annals; hence the beast ranks with the phoenix as an omen of peace. Beasts shaped as censers were placed in the studio or inner chamber, smoke curling from the pierced vents.

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