Lot 89
RARE CHINESE BRONZE INCENSE BURNER IN THE FORM OF A DUCK STANDING ON TOAD
MING DYNASTY, 17TH CENTURY
Auction: 07 November 2025 from 10:00 GMT
Description
明 銅寶鴨戲金蟾薰爐
cast standing with one leg on a three-legged toad, head turned to the right and beak ajar, the wings with plumage finely rendered and opening up to the vessel, on a bespoke wooden stand
Dimensions
43cm high; 3755g
Provenance
From the estate of the late Peter D. R. Powell (1940-2025); Set up by Peter Powell in Edinburgh in the early 1980s, The Thrie Estaits in Dundas Street was a treasure trove of the eclectic, the beautiful and the quirky. It was hard to find a shop like it, and for nearly forty years, it was the go-to for extraordinary works of art.
Previously in the collection of Leonard Gow (1859–1936). Born in Glasgow, the son of a shipping magnate, Leonard Gow attended Glasgow University in 1884 to spend a year studying Moral Philosophy. He became senior partner in the shipping company Gow, Harrison & Co, director of the Burmah Oil Company and chairman of several other companies. A noted philanthropist, he founded the Leonard Gow Lectureship on Medical Diseases of Infancy and Childhood in 1919. As remembered by the great-grandson of Leonard Gow, the present lot was displayed in the hall at his grandparents' family home at Hallhill, Renfrewshire during the 1960s and 70s.
彼得．鮑威爾（Peter D. R. Powell, 1940–2025）遺產；由彼得．鮑威爾於1980年代初在愛丁堡創立的The Thrie Estaits，是一座充滿奇趣與美感的骨董店。運營四十年間，它一直是尋覓非凡藝術品的必訪之地。
前倫納德．高（Leonard Gow, 1859–1936）舊藏。高生於格拉斯哥，是一位航運巨擘之子。1884年入讀格拉斯哥大學，研習道德哲學一年。其後成為航運公司Gow, Harrison & Co的首席合夥人，並出任緬甸石油公司董事及多間企業的董事長。作為著名慈善家，他於1919年創立「倫納德．高嬰幼兒疾病醫學講座」。據高氏曾孫回憶，此熏爐曾於1960至1970年代間陳列於其祖父母位於倫弗魯郡霍爾希爾（Hallhill, Renfrewshire）的家中大廳內。
Footnote
Bronze incense burner in the form of a goose or duck, either standing one-legged or two, is a relatively common subject matter. The three-legged toad, known as jinchan in Chinese, is a beloved mythical animal believed to beckon wealth, usually depicted with the immortal Liu Hai. However, it is unusual to see a duck standing on a toad. A comparable example, dated to the Ming dynasty, is in the Guanfu Museum, note the similarity of the composition of the duck and toad. According to the museum note, 'duck', in Chinese ya, is a homophonic pun for 'press' or 'insistence', and the toad symbolises wealth. The duck standing sideways on the toad implies a guaranteed unexpected, or sudden gain of wealth.
Sold examples of only the duck, Ming dynasty, standing on one leg like the present lot, can be found in auctions, one at Sotheby's Paris, 16 June 2022, lot 72, the other at Christie's New York, 29 Jun 2021, lot 99. A related example of a bronze 'Liu Hai and toad' censer, 17th century, was sold at Sotheby's London, 18 May 2018, lot 437.