Bronze Incense Burner with Silver-inlaid Design of Bongeunsa Temple

An incense burner (hyangno) is a ritual implement used in temples to burn incense during ceremonies or when placed on the altar. A bowl-shaped vessel set on a trumpet-shaped stand that flares out to a disc-shaped base beneath it is called a hyangwan. The Bronze Incense Burner with Silver-inlaid Design of Bongeunsa Temple is 37 cm high and 51 cm in diameter, making it one of the larger hyangwan of the Goryeo period. Fine silver wire has been inlaid over the entire surface of the body. The wide rim at the mouth bears a lotus scroll pattern on its surface and a lightning pattern along its edge. At four points facing one another around the centre of the body, double circles are inlaid, each enclosing a single, thickly rendered Sanskrit character, surrounded by a ruyi-head pattern. The spaces between are filled with an elaborate scroll pattern, and below the body a long lotus design outlined in double lines is engraved. The foot has two tiers, decorated with lotus and scroll patterns and a band of beading. The upper part of the foot bears a lotus pattern bordered by two lines, one of them thick, with a scroll pattern engraved below. The piece shows fine proportions overall, the pattern covering its surface is elegant, and the silver-inlay technique is delicate. A 103-character inscription in silver inlay is engraved on the back of the rim at the mouth of the body; the date given in the inscription, "the fourth year of Jijeong", shows that the piece was made in the fifth year of King Chunghye of Goryeo (1344).

AI Translation

Visiting

Visitor information: Korea Tourism Organization · KOGL Type 1

Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물