Model Incense Burner with Sacred Mountain Lid
Model Incense Burner with Sacred Mountain Lid
Place of OriginChina
DateHan Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE)
DimensionsH: 9 1/4 in.
MediumEarthenware; dark green lead glaze with silvery iridescence
ClassificationCeramics
Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1950.325A-B
Not on View
DescriptionThree-footed vessel with domed mountain cover; hunting scene in relief around the body, with suggested mask handles; glaze weathered to iridescence. A mingqi (funerary) adaptation of the boshanlu hill censer type.
Label TextThis glazed hill censer echoes the form of bronze boshanlu used in Han rituals, but it was made for the tomb. Its sealed lid and vivid green surface mark it as mingqi—a spirit object meant to serve the dead in perpetuity. The jar’s relief frieze of hunters and wild beasts evokes the untamed landscape of the Daoist immortal isles. Unlike functional censers, this one does not release real smoke. Instead, it embodies the ritual itself, granting the deceased a permanent, material connection to the paradise once summoned by living worshippers.
Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE)
Han Dynasty (221-206 BCE)
Tang Dynasty (618-907)
1st century CE
Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE)
Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Late 16th - 13th century BCE (or modern)
Edo Period (1615-1868)
about 1829
1st century BCE - 4th century CE
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