Bronze Incense Burner with Silver-inlaid Design of Baekjangam Hermitage

Among the incense burners used in temple rites or placed on altars for burning incense, this type — with a bowl-shaped body, a trumpet-shaped flared foot and a disc-shaped base — was specially called a hyangwan. The Bronze Incense Burner with Silver-inlaid Design of Baekjangam Hermitage stands 30 cm high with a mouth diameter of 30 cm; the body and stand were made separately and then joined, and silver wire was inlaid over the whole surface, making it a Joseon-period work that carries on the tradition of the Goryeo-period hyangwan. On the broad rim around the mouth are nine circles formed of fine lines, each enclosing a Sanskrit letter, with the spaces between them filled with scrolling vine patterns. On the front and back of the body, large circular motifs of double fine lines are inlaid in silver, each containing five smaller circles, within which Sanskrit letters are again engraved. The spaces between the circles are filled with vine patterns, and around the lower part of the body run eighteen lotus petals in two rows. The stand has two tiers, with six elongated lotus petals above and a vine pattern below. It can be seen that by the Joseon period the circular Sanskrit-letter motif had been newly reworked, yet the patterning is still gracefully inlaid. An inscription surviving on the lower part of the rim shows that the piece was made in the 17th year of King Seonjo of Joseon (1584), demonstrating clearly how the form of the Goryeo hyangwan was carried on into the early Joseon period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Namwon, Jeonbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물