Chinese Lu or Incense Burner

A blank-faced tapered block in blue washes, as if the sign painter walked off.

This lu or incense burner in painted porcelain is from Hebei Province, China, and dates to the 19th century. In Chinese, lu is the word for an incense burner, a form that has been made in bronze, ceramic and other materials since ancient times. A squat, four-sided form narrows upward to a flat top with a square pierced opening. A pale blue border frames an empty panel, brushed in soft streaks. The glaze is milky and slightly worn on the corners. It is 2.6 inches wide, 2.6 deep and 3.25 high.

Plenty of space left for a message nobody wrote.