A pair of late 17th century Chinese, parcel-gilt, silver Ding incense burners with scratched Inventory numbers “No 99” to the bases.
The ding is one of the most important Chinese ritual vessel types to cook and serve food offerings and were also used as incense burners. These parcel-gilt silver examples are based on archaic models and the cast decoration in relief can be seen on other recorded Chinese pieces such as the silver wine ewer presented to Louis XIV on behalf of the king of Siam in 1686, recently acquired by the Palace of Versailles in 2018.
Provenance: Colin Shreve (English 1908 – 1994) was an avid collector of oriental antiques amongst others. During the late 1940’s he opened ‘The International Collector’s Agency ‘in Newport Court, London and had this store for many years. He amassed his stock and collection through auction sales around the United Kingdom and most notably, Christies, Sotheby’s and Bonhams. Through his store he not only built his own collection, but those of collectors worldwide. His personal collection was housed in his treasure trove home in Covent Garden, London’s West End, where he lived for fifty years. *See the image of the article when he was featured in ‘The News Chronicle’ London, 1953.
Dimensions: 7.8 cm high by 6.55 cm diameter.
Weight: 236 grams.