Courtesy of the Harn Museum of Art, Photography by Foad Seyed Mohammadi

Yixing Incense Burner

Artist Unknown Chinese Artist

DateQing dynasty (1644-1911)

Made/manufacturedChina, Asia

MediumCeramic

DimensionsHeight x Diameter: 3 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. (8.9 x 16.5 cm)

ClassificationsFurnishings and Equipment

Credit LineBequest of Dr. David A. Cofrin

Object number2009.48.77

Collections

ASIAN

DescriptionThe speckled, purplish-brown body well potted in the form of an alms bowl with steep sides rising to a gently rounded rim with a wide mouth

The mainstay of the distinctive stonewares produced at Yixing was a range of functional objects, many of them simple, relatively plain containers for potted plants, liquids and solids and, most famously, teapots from the Ming dynasty onwards. Although modeled in the shape of an alms bowl, the current example is quite large and has an unusually wide mouth, suggesting that it may have been intended as an incense burner.