Incense burner
Category
Ceramics
Date
c. 1600
Materials
Porcelain, cobalt
Measurements
135 mm (Height)
Place of origin
Jingdezhen
Order this imageCollection
Belton House, Lincolnshire
NT 433382
Summary
Incense burner, porcelain, in the shape of a mythical beast, possibly a xiezhi 獬豸, or a qilin 麒麟, standing on four paws, with a bushy tail and with three horns on its head, made in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, China, Wanli period (1573–1620), c. 1600, decorated in underglaze blue with on its sides lobed panels with stylised lotus flowers reserved against blue and on its forehead a circle containing the character wang 王, ‘king’ or ‘royal’, also reserved against blue.
Provenance
Purchased by the National Trust with support from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, 1984.