Chinese Incense Burner or Censer

Warmly, a squat pot on three stubby feet, frosted in pale green and grey.

This copper incense burner or censer is from China, and dates to the 19th century. A censer is a vessel for burning incense, and in China such vessels are used at temple altars, on ancestral shrines and in the home. Complete in frame, a round, bulging vessel with two upright loop handles and three short feet. The surface is crusted and mottled in pale grey-green and white, with darker patches on the shoulders. The rim is thin and slightly uneven. It is 5.5 inches wide, 5.5 deep and 4.5 high.

Weathered to a frost, and still standing on its three feet.