Copper and cloisonné enamel incense burner, China, Ming period, 16th - 17th century In the shape of an inverted, slightly domed truncated cone resting on three elephant-head feet. The neck and base are made of a gilded copper alloy ring. The body is in cloisonné enamel on copper with a blue background of stylized flowers and foliage in polychrome enamel, while the interior is in gilded copper alloy. It is flanked on each side by a handle in the shape of a mythical animal, probably pixiu, recognizable by its horn above the skull. Below the base a molded six-character kaishu mark in a rectangular reserve 大明景泰年製 - Da Ming jingtai nianzhi - "made during the Jingtai era of the great Ming dynasty". Height: 7 cm; weight: 770 g Some missing enamel, loose handles. Accidents. Provenance: Sotheby's London, May 21, 1963, lot 92.