Chinese Ceramic Censer

Squat green bowl on three stubby legs, crackled like old ice.

This porcelain censer is from China, and dates to the 20th century. Censers are vessels for burning incense, and in Chinese homes and temples they often sit on altars as an offering to ancestors and deities. Wide, low vessel with a broad flat rim, a rounded belly and a ridge circling the waist. Three short feet hold it up. The soft gray-green glaze is webbed with fine crackle and pools slightly at the ridge. It is 4.1 inches high and 6.1 in diameter.

It stands its ground on three legs with enviable calm.