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I am a student of Chinese art and I am currently working on museum cataloging as part of my Master's thesis project. I am trying to analyze a bronze elephant incense burner that used to be part of a private East Asian art collection (see the photographs at the link below).

I have been told it's a late Qing censer, but it seems far more likely to me it was manufactured for the Japanese market during the Meiji period (the dragons on each side of the blanket only have three toes and there seems to be an o-goon-cho dragon at the elephant's rear side). Although, it is quite possible it was manufactured elsewhere in East Asia, such as Korea or maybe even late Qing China (at that time the Japanese expansion would already have started).

I found several very similar objects on various online auction websites and they mostly bear identical markings on the bottom, which read ''褔井吉氏制造'', so ''manufactured by Fukui Yoshi'' (the artist or his workshop). However, the object I am analyzing obviously had the mark on the bottom either intentionally destroyed or the bottom of the censer was sealed and fixed due to a certain damage caused over time (see the photographs at the link below). The missing mark of the artist or workshop on the bottom seems to be the key to obtain any exact information on the object (such as its exact provenance, time of manufacture and manufacturer information).

I specialize in Chinese art and am not too familiar with Japanese art of that period, therefore, I have a couple of questions regarding Meiji period bronzeware:
- Since several very similar items can be found on various online antique shop websites, I am curious whether this kind of elephant and pagoda shaped censers could have been a commodity trend in 19th-century East Asia (Japan, China, Korea)?
- Is it possible that various workshops and bronzeware artists used the same model to cast them? Is there anything known about Fukui Yoshi and his workshop (where it was located, what kind of objects they specialized in, etc.)?
- And does it seem possible that the object of my analysis was manufactured by Fukui Yoshi's workshop or could it have been made by someone else?

Any piece of advice would be utmost valuable and helpful in the process of developing my thesis. I appreciate your assistance and look forward to hearing from you.


Link :Meiji period bronze elephant incense burner

It's not a Japanese piece but Chinese indeed, late Qing period.

Cfr.:
http://pai.sssc.cn/item/589801

Guy.

Hi, Mina,
There was an appraisal on the U.S. Antiques Roadshow of such an item by Lark Mason during season 19, episode 32. It was dated to the Meiji period, circa 1900.

Go to pbs.org and search for “Japanese Bronze Censer, ca. 1900.”

All the best with your thesis!

In the Chinese (and Japanese) context, the last two words “zhi” and “zao” in the mark you found were not used together in a mark in ancient China and Japan.

A glance at gotheborg.com’s Chinese Marks page show the usage of these two words together in a mark first appeared at around the mid 20th century. So any object, whether Chinese or Japanese, bearing the words “zhi zao,” meaning made/manufactured, in the mark is likely not older than mid 20th century.

Mina,

You were right from the start. It's Japanese, Meiji period indeed.

The maker's mark reads 福井吉氏製造 but I'm not sure about the correct pronunciation. I tend to read it as 'Fukui Yoshiuji seizô' (manufactured by Fukui Yoshiuji).

Guy.

Thank you both for your kind help. The origin of the item is indeed somewhat puzzling since the shaping of the elephant, as well as the casting, appear to be Chinese, while the three-clawed dragon motifs seem to suggest a Japanese origin.
And I have another question, if anyone happens to have encountered anything similar: I mentioned the incense burner I am working on obviously had the artist's mark on the bottom removed.

It might have been either due to damage caused by incorrect usage, which seems somewhat unlikely to me, or it was done intentionally. But in the latter case, why would anyone have done that? I noticed a few other Meiji period items available at online antique sales with the artist's seal damaged or completely removed. Could there have been any particular reason for that?

Thank you for your help and suggestions.

If the maker’s mark was removed intentionally, perhaps it was made to conceal the true origin and period of manufacture of the object. Making an object appear to be Chinese and from an earlier period could mean a big difference in its monetary value in the current market environment.

During and immediately after World War II, many people in Allied Nations whose possessions included items from the Axis powers of Japan, Germany and Italy, found it prudent to remove identifying markings in the manner you see on your censer. Anti-Japanese and anti-German sentiment was quite vehement at the time. Anyone displaying products marked "Made in Japan" or "Made in Germany" in their homes might be subjected to branding as Axis sympathizers, along with shunning, vilification or worse.

Bill H.

Hi Mina
From said pics and info regarding claws on said dragon. Japanese works of art used 2 or 3 claws while china used 4 or 5.
From the appearance I would suggest japanese.
All the best with your thesis
Mark

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