Five Phoenix Incense Burner

Five Phoenix Incense Burner, bronze, Han Dynasty cultural relic, 20 cm in height, 21.5 cm in bottom diameter, unearthed from Jiahetun cellar in Jiaozuo, Henan Province in 1989 (this cultural relic is currently on display in the Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties exhibition hall on the second floor of Henan Museum).

In March 1989, staff from the Mineral Bureau of Jiaozuo, Henan Province, discovered a batch of buried bronze artifacts while taking soil from a brick kiln in Jiahetun Forest Farm, Jiaozuo [1]. After rescue cleaning and excavation by archaeologists, 3 types of bronze artifacts, totaling 41 sets, were unearthed. Archaeologists inferred that the artifacts dated back to the middle and late Western Han Dynasty. This batch of buried bronze artifacts has many categories, including a considerable number of exquisite bionic utensils, and Wufeng Incense Burner is one of them. Although this Wufeng Incense Burner has gone through thousands of years of wind and frost, it is still intact, with a complete main and accessory parts, and exquisite and clear details, combining practicality and ornamental value.

The main body of the Five Phoenix Incense Burner is a phoenix, with a gorgeous crown and feathers, head held high, a round bead in its mouth, wings flapping and chest puffed out, wide wings upturned, and feather-like patterns carved on the chest and wings. The phoenix's belly is hollow, and the wings and belly are connected by nails. The spine is opened in the middle to form a lid, which can be opened and closed freely. It can be opened to the left and right from here to place spices. The design is ingenious; the back of the phoenix is ​​full of arc holes, from which the burning spices curl up; the tail wings are also carved with arc-shaped and rectangular holes; the chest, wings and tail are each decorated with a young phoenix, and there are a total of five phoenixes including the main phoenix image, hence the name. The main body of the incense burner is supported by the phoenix's claws and riveted on a round plate with a flat bottom, folded edges, and three breast feet at the bottom. The round plate not only plays a role in stabilizing the main body of the incense burner, but also can hold the ashes of spices that may fall, and from an aesthetic point of view, it will not present a top-heavy visual effect.

Before the Han Dynasty, phoenixes were often used as patterns or partial decorations on incense burners. For example, a bronze incense burner with a phoenix holding a ring was unearthed in 1997 at the Yongcheng Ruins in Fengxiang, Shaanxi Province [2] (Figure 1). However, the body of this incense burner is still the traditional oval shape, with only a three-dimensional phoenix decorated on the top of the body, with its crown and feathers flying, wings spread out, and a copper ring in its mouth. The phoenix is ​​only a decorative part of the incense burner and has no actual function. The five-phoenix incense burner in the Henan Museum is made of bronze to create the image of a large phoenix with a vigorous posture. The phoenix body is the incense burner body, and the phoenix wings and brocade feathers are cleverly used as the cover. The phoenix belly is the body of the incense burner, which is used to hold spices. The whole body is decorated with young phoenixes. It is a rare and exquisite bionic incense burner with a delicate design and unique shape. This style and craftsmanship are rarely seen in real objects. It is not only a representative vessel among this batch of buried bronze vessels, but also a unique incense burner in the Han Dynasty.

Figure 1: A bronze incense burner with a phoenix holding a ring unearthed in Fengxiang, Shaanxi