Imperial Incense Stand

The form of this elegant incense stand is well-known in Ming and early Ch'ing hardwood furniture but no other Ming imperial carved red lacquer (cinnabar) incense stand has yet been published. Supported on four tall slender cabriole legs, the top is deeply and elaborately carved with dense patterns of blossoming peonies, cranes, peaches and foliage surrounding a pair of phoenix in flight. The projecting corners are carved with the eight Buddhist emblems each in the center of a large lotus blossom. The rounded aprons display a bracket-lobed border enclosing confronted pairs of imperial dragons on a dense ground of stylized clouds.