Censer In Bronze. China Qing Period.

Lost wax cast bronze incense burner. The model is very interesting and artistically modeled. It represents a peach branch laden with fruit and leaves. The peach was, in China, a highly symbolic fruit and brought longevity. When there are 9 peaches represented on a Chinese object, the symbolism becomes even stronger. Most often there are only 2 or 3 peaches. On the perfume burner presented here there are 8 peaches, which is unusual, it is too much and not enough. However, by examining the object carefully, we see in one place casting defects of the bronze which precisely in this place has not been scraped correctly leaving a raw surface, this could be explained by the presence of a ninth peach, today now broken and lost, the presence of which would have prevented access to the artist's finishing tools (part circled in red, visible on a photo). The incense burner rests on a very old hardwood base with a very fine grain which seems to be Huang-Huali. This base is probably original, it is a powerful sculpture that goes to the essentials, it does not have the sentimentality of the later 18th or 19th century bases. It is very rare that an object has retained its base.
The censer is in good condition, no welding, no restoration, beautiful original patina. Missing a peach.
The wooden base has a very beautiful old patina. A piece of branch and leaves are missing.
It should be noted the presence of tiny spots of gilding under the peach, which could be the result of an accident or the rest of gold splashes that have now disappeared. Length: 23cm Height: 16cm
China Qing period 18th or earlier.