14. RARE COPPER INCENSE BURNER, PARTIALLY GILDED AND INLAID WITH SILVER Hu Wenming mark, late Ming Dynasty A RARE SILVER-INLAID PARCEL-GILT COPPER CENSER Hu Wenming mark, late Ming Dynasty With almost cylindrical sides decorated in crisp relief with stems of lotus, chrysanthemums, peonies and narcissus and small sprays of lingzhi on a dense brocade-diaper pattern ground, all picked out in gilding, a keyfret band inlaid with silver around the base and rim, the whole raised on three ruyi-shaped feet, that base with an incised mark in rounded seal scrip within a rectangular gilt reserve Yunjian Hu Wenming zhi picked out in gold. 8.5 cm (3 3/8 in) high PROPERTY FROM A GERMAN PRIVATE COLLECTION 德國私人收藏 明晚期 局部鎏金銅四季花卉紋三足爐 「雲間胡文明製」款 Provenance: Acquired by an ancestor working in China in the early part of the 20th century and thence in the family by descent to the present owners. 來源 家族長輩於二十世紀初得自中國，後經家族流傳至今 This small censer was originally part of a set of incense implements all made of bronze and comprising five objects including a small covered incense box, a flat-bowled spoon, a pair of chopstick-like tongs and a small vase for holding the spoon and tongs when not in use. The distinctive mark on the base of this censer indicates that it was made by Hu Wenming of Yunjian, active late sixteenth and early seventeenth century, and considered one of the most renowned metal artists of the late Ming period. Compare with a censer of the same design and mark, sold in Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5 and 6 November 1996, lot 950. See also