Censer

This gilded bronze censer is shaped like a Bronze Age ritual vessel form known as gui. It is cast and carved in relief, displaying a wave pattern in the main body, with eight mythological ocean animals, including sea horse, lion, elephant, and dragon, all accented with gilding. The center of the base is inset with a large, rectangular cartouche containing a six-character seal-script mark, which reads, “Made by Zhu Zhenming of Yunjian.” Yunjian is present-day Songjiang near Shanghai, also the hometown of metalwork master Hu Wenming. Zhu worked in Hu’s workshop, where he completely assimilated the master’s style and then became an independent artisan producing bronze objects that appealed to scholars’ tastes.