Incense Antique Burners

Dawn at a temple, a bronze lion on the altar, smoke curling from its mouth. Antique burners for incense come from the temples and households of China, Tibet, Japan and India. Chinese bronze censers in archaic ding and gui shapes, burners cast as guardian lions or foo dogs, Tibetan burners depicting the protector Mahakala, Japanese koro in bronze and porcelain: all served daily ritual. The bronze has darkened with age and smoke to deep brown and green. On a console, a stone pedestal or an altar table, a censer holds the room like a sculpture, lit or not. Quiet, with some weight to it.