Pure quality bronze with a blushing red surface and dark brown patches. On the bottom, a more reddish, yellow bronze is visible. The entire piece is glowing, smooth and tender. Starting with the round opening, the lip is slanted slightly inward yet is still round and smooth. Moving down, there is a narrowed neck, a round abdominal and a pair of assuming capricorn heads with pointy noses on either side of the neck. On the bottom, the eight characters, Made in the Xuande Period by Wu Bang Zuo, are written across two lines of regular script and are embossed in a rectangular frame. The strokes of the calligraphy are smooth and the form is both delicate and beautiful. This bronze censer is simple with soft lines, yet bold with its perfect roundness, especially with the beautiful and lively elephant heads imbuing it with charm and spirit.

Wu Bang Zuo was a famous bronze craftsman during the Xuande Period, although his date of birth and death are unknown. It is said that not only was he the official supervisor of the craftsmen, but also the designer of all the different styles and colors of the censers. Wu Bang Zuo made a great amount of bronze vessels for the royal and common temples. At the same time, he illegally made some bronze censers for sale, too. His bronze censers are absolutely exquisite and widely cherished.

D: 10.5 cm
W: 659 g