A Rare bronze tripod incense burner depicting the 'Four Noble Professions' (Yu Qiao Geng Du)Qing dynasty, De Li Xin zhi silver-inlaid maker's seal
Of squat bombe shape and heavily cast, the body inlaid in silver, now oxidized to black, with a continuous landscape scene showing the yu qiao geng du( the four noble occupations) including fishermen with rods and nets, a boy on a buffalo, a farmer with a rake-like tool over his shoulder, a figure with a basket on his head and a scholar in a pavilion reading with an attendant and table nearby all rendered in a a lush landscape of pine and willows, mountain peaks and sailboats, huts and pavilions, the vessel supported on short pad feet and below a waisted everted rim.
8in (20.3cm) diam注脚According to Confucian principles, the country is sustained when all 'Four Noble Professions' (fishing, woodcutting, farming and scholarly endeavors) are in harmony: see Michael C. Hughes, The Chester Beatty Library, Dublin: Chinese Snuff Bottles (Baltimore, 2009), pp.270-271, No. 208.

For an example of almost identical proportions to this lot, but smaller in size and bearing a Xuande mark, see Christie's, Hong Kong, 30 November 2016, lot 3249. See also the gilt-splashed censer of similar shape, published in Philip K. Hu, Later Chinese Bronzes: The Saint Louis Art Museum and Robert E. Kresko Collections (Saint Louis, 2008), pp.116-117, No. 22.