Xuande Incense Burner (Three-Legged Copper Censer with Upright Ears)
The Xuande incense burners represented another pinnacle of Chinese copper casting technology after the bronze wares of the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
The Xuande incense burners refer to copper censers made by the royal court during Emperor Xuande's reign of the Ming Dynasty. They derived the name from the mark "Made during Xuande's reign of the Ming Dynasty" usually found on the bottom. Later copper censers modeled after this shape, style, and mark were also so named.
According to an ancient monograph on the incense burners of Xuande's reign, in 1428, the king of Siam sent several tons of refined copper as tribute to the Ming emperor. This kind of refined copper material, called "fengmotong" (literally "wind-milled copper"), glimmered like gold.
Emperor Xuande decreed to use the material to cast 3,365 royal bronze wares for sacrificial ceremonies and ornaments, in imitation of the bronze ritual instruments of the Shang and Zhou dynasties and porcelain wares from famous kilns in the Song Dynasty.
The incense burners of Xuande's reign, made with imported material upon the emperor's decree and modeled after classic utensils, became everlasting legends based on the descriptions preserved in ancient books.
This three-legged copper censer with two upright ears and a round belly was modeled after the style of the three-legged porcelain censers
from the Ge Kiln in the Song Dynasty, a typical design of the incense burners of Xuande's reign. After centuries of weathering, the censer formed a thick coating due to oxidation, indicating that it was long used in the imperial palace.
Only a few copper censers made during Xuande's reign have been preserved to this day. From the collection of the Qing court, this censer is the only of its kind cast in the Xuande's reign in the Palace Museum.
铜冲耳乳足炉底部款识
Inscriptions on the bottom of the three-legged copper censer with upright ears.
宣德炉（铜冲耳乳足炉）
宣德炉是继商周青铜器之后，中国铜器铸造工艺的又一个高峰。
宣德炉，原指明代宣德年间宫廷铸造的铜质香炉，因炉底铸有“大明宣德年制”印款而得名。后经历代仿制，凡形制、款识与之相近的铜炉均获此名。《宣德鼎彝谱》载，明宣德三年（1428），暹罗国王向中国进献数万斤精炼铜料，色如黄金，称“风磨铜”。明宣宗下旨，依此铜料，仿照商周青铜礼器及宋代名窑瓷器，铸造供祭祀和陈设用的皇家铜器3365件。舶来的原料、天子的旨意、经典的蓝本和精确的记述，令宣德炉成为传奇。
这件铜冲耳乳足炉，两耳三足、腹部浑圆，仿宋代哥窑三足炉，为宣德炉经典造型。炉壁经长年积累，包浆厚实，可见曾在宫中长期使用。
如今明代宣德时期所造铜炉极为罕见。这件铜炉属清宫旧藏，也是故宫博物院所藏唯一一件明代宣德时期铸造的传世珍品。
