Table Top Incense Stand

By the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), carved lacquer furniture was becoming increasingly popular and it was used on furniture constructed in the same way and in the same forms as the hardwood tradition. The Manchu court and aristocracy absorbed Ming taste for highly decorated lacquer furniture and this elaborately carved eighteenth century incense stand draws on early Ming concepts for both its form and sumptuous decoration. The small size of the stand made it appropriate for use on a table top, day bed, or kang platform.