Wabi Sabi Incense Vessel

Designed to hold burning incense, censer bowls have been used throughout China for thousands of years. Incense made from dried aromatic plants and essential oils would be burned within the home to cleanse interiors and honor ancestors during ritual prayer. This early 20th-century censer is made of hand-carved cypress, and once resided upon the family altar of a provincial Qing-dynasty home. The censer's round body is trimmed by rope-like borders and set upon a scrolled footed base. The painted censer has aged beautifully with time, and is wonderful today as a planter or vase.