Detail View: The AMICA Library: Censer in the Shape of Mount Bo (Boshanlu)

AMICA ID: 
ASIA.1979.109a-b
AMICA Library Year: 
1998
Object Type: 
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Creator Nationality: 
Asian; Far East Asian; Chinese
Creator Name-CRT: 
Chinese
Title: 
Censer in the Shape of Mount Bo (Boshanlu)
View: 
Full view
Creation Date: 
Eastern Han period, 1st-2nd century CE
Creation Start Date: 
1
Creation End Date: 
199
Materials and Techniques: 
Gilt bronze
Classification Term: 
Ceremonial Containers
Creation Place: 
North China
Dimensions: 
H. 5 1/2 in. (14 cm); D. 4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm) saucer
AMICA Contributor: 
Asia Society
Owner Location: 
New York, New York, USA
ID Number: 
1979.109a-b
Credit Line: 
Asia Society: The Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection
Rights: 
Context: 
During the Han dynasty (206 BCE-CE 220), bronze was used to make a wide range of vessels as well as weights, tallies, tomb sculptures, lamps, censers, coins, mirrors, and other objects. This bronze incense burner can be dated to the 1st or 2nd century CE by the rather static composition of the landscape and animals (dog, tortoise, and monkey) depicted in the upper part. Cast in the shape of a mythical mountain, the censer rises from the body of a flower that is supported on the back of a coiling dragon, which rests on the interior of a small plate. In earlier examples, the dragons are often incised into the plate rather than fully carved; the sculptural treatment of this dragon helps date the piece to the Eastern Han period (25-220 CE).

Made in both ceramic and bronze, censers in this shape are now commonly known as Mount Bo or boshan incense burners. The use of these censers can be traced to the prevailing interest in magical paradises and immortality. Mountainscapes are often interpreted as images of the mythical land of Penglai, an imaginary mountain paradise inhabited by immortals and other semidivine creatures, said to be located in either the western mountains or the eastern seas. Belief in magical worlds such as Penglai had begun as early as the 4th century BCE. By the Western Han period (206 BCE-CE 9), interest in the land of the immortals had become more widespread and more concrete. It was believed that such a paradise could be found and that an elixir of immortality could be obtained there.

The mountaintops of this type of censer were made in two parts and open in the center to allow for the placement and lighting of incense. The smoke from the incense escapes through small holes cleverly hidden in the top part of the mountains. The smoke was believed to represent cloud-breath, or yunqi, an auspicious omen that was generally depicted in the visual arts as trailing wisps of smoky clouds. The sight of the smoke rising from a censer such as this one would have been interpreted as a tangible manifestation of cloud-breath, making such censers invaluable tools for adepts in the various cults of immortality. Such censers were also used, however, to mask odors in bathrooms and to perfume the air at banquets.

Related Document Description: 
Asia Society. Handbook of the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection. New York: Asia Society, [1981], p. 52.
Related Document Description: 
Fontein, Jan, and Tung Wu. Unearthing China's Past. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1973, p. 103.
Related Document Description: 
Hay, John. Kernels of Energy, Bones of Earth: The Rock in Chinese Art. New York: China House Gallery of the China Institute in America, 1985, pp. 68, 74, 75, 134.
Related Document Description: 
Hay, John. 'The Rock and Chinese Art.' Orientations (December 1985), pp. 24-25.
Related Document Description: 
Lee, Sherman E. Asian Art: Selections from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd--Part II. New York: Asia Society, 1975, pp. 37, 95.
Related Image Identifier Link: 
ASIA.1979.109.a.tif