A VERY RARE BRONZE ZHANG QIAN AND BOAT HANGING INCENSE VESSEL Ming Dynasty

A VERY RARE BRONZE 'ZHANG QIAN AND BOAT' HANGING INCENSE VESSELMing DynastyThe vessel expertly cast as a boat in the form of a large lotus petal, with a mythical-beast head at the front, a Daoist Immortal with jovial expression seated at the stern, wearing a lotus-leaf hat and holding an open book, his right hand holding the rudder, the deck with leafy-tendril openwork, the exterior of the boat decorated with a band of openwork C-scrolls, with three raised suspension lugs attached to three chains hung from a loop ring. 25.5cm (10in) long.Footnotes:明 仙人乘槎掛式銅吊爐Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: Michael Goedhuis, Chinese and Japanese Bronzes A.D.1100-1900, London, 1989, no.24. 展覽著錄：Michael Goedhuis著，《Chinese and Japanese Bronzes A.D.1100-1900》，倫敦，1989年，編號24The present lot is very rare. Although it is an incense burner or perfumer, the shape may possibly have been inspired by Central Asian and Persian kashkul, or so called 'beggar's bowls'. The kashkul was a sign of religious poverty assumed by Sufis and Islamic mystics, and was worn around the neck with a chain. The bowl's boat-like shape became symbolic of the dervish's journey on the ocean of mystic knowledge. See for example, a kashkul, ca.1500, Iran or Afghanistan, of similar boat-shape and with chain, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (acc.no.755-1889).The present lot, although not Islamic, shares the Sufi's concern with mysticism and the journey for knowledge, except now there is a Daoist Immortal with a book riding the boat. Immortals riding a raft (Xianren chengcha 仙人乘槎) are frequently depicted in other materials such as bamboo or rhinoceros horn carvings. See for example, a rhinoceros horn cup with Immortal on a raft, late Ming/early Qing, illustrated in Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings in the Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2010, p.302. The earliest record of the tale of an 'Immortal Riding a Raft' was in the Record of Diverse Matters (博物志) written by Zhang Hua (c.290 CE). According to this book, every Eighth Month, boats commute between the sea and the Milky Way leading one to Immortality. Later, this myth became conflated with the historical figure of Zhang Qian (張騫) the Han dynasty explorer and envoy to Central Asia. See a silver cup depicting an Immortal on raft, Yuan dynasty, illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji, vol.10, Beijing, 1996, no.154. S.Lee, in Chinese Art under the Mongols: The Yuan Dynasty, Cleveland, 1968, entry 37, mentions that this could be a depiction of the Daoist deity Taiyi zhenren (太乙真人), travelling to the fairy islands of Penglai.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com