A VERY RARE GILT-BRONZE PORTABLE INCENSE BURNER15th/16th centuryModelled in the form of a lotus flower with a hinged cover issuing from a lotus leaf, joined by a long flat handle terminating in aruyi-shaped support, the exterior delicately chased with floral motifs, box.32cm (12 5/8in) longProvenance: 十五/十六世紀 銅鎏金鏨花蓮花如意柄提熏Portable incense burners with long handles started to gained popularity from the Northern dynasties to Song dynasty. This type of portable incense burners typically consists of three parts: the incense burner, the pedestal and the long handle. Censers such as the present lot were most likely used in ritual ceremonies or were produced for a temple, see a Jin dynasty mural painting with a bodhisattva holding a portable 'lotus' incense burner, illustrated inXiang Yuan Yi Qing: Tang Song Xiangju Lancui, Zhejiang Provincial Museum and Famensi Museum, 2015, p.123.Censers in the form of a lotus flower started to appear in the Tang dynasty and became more popular during Song and Liao dynasties. See two examples in the form of a lotus flower, exhibited inibid., Zhejiang Provincial Museum and Famensi Museum, 2015, pp.125-126.此器由如意長柄、蓮花爐身及覆蓮葉底座三部分組成。爐身上有蓋扣其上，器表以鏨花工藝飾花卉紋，柄與爐身相接處飾葉形花片，以圓形鉚釘連接。附柄手持式小型香爐最早流行於北朝至宋代。此類香爐一般由爐身、爐座及爐柄三部分組成。對照目前發現的柄香爐圖像及實物，此類器皿絕大部分用於儀式或與佛事相關，參考山西朔州金代崇福寺彌陀殿壁畫脅侍菩薩局部圖，見浙江省博物館及法門寺博物館編，《香遠益清：唐宋香具覽粹》，2015年，頁123。類似之蓮花長柄爐，見北宋及遼代各一例，見同上，頁125至126。