Monochrome Beauty

The porcelain incense burner was produced during the Kangxi period (1661-1722).

It is referred to as monochrome porcelain because of its single-colour glaze. Count Karl acquired monochrome porcelain in an assortment of colours in China; his collection includes objects in different shades of blue and green, oxblood red, coral red, and imperial yellow. The latter colour was reserved exclusively for the Chinese emperor.

The incense burner was made in Dehua, a city in the southern Chinese province of Fujian. Alongside Jingdezhen and Longquan, Dehua was regarded as the third largest ceramic centre in China. The porcelain, with its creamy white glaze, also gained fame in the West as "Blanc de Chine". In China, white porcelain was used on the ancestral altar.

The censer is designed in the shape of the "Gui" censer type.

From the Song Dynasty (960-1279) onwards, bronze ritual objects were rediscovered in China and began to be studied and collected as art pieces. Their designs inspired the creation of new artworks, made from bronze as well as other materials like porcelain. The two handles attached to the bowl are characteristic of the "Gui" form.