Massive Straits Chinese Porcelain Censer

This is the largest porcelain censer made for the Straits Chinese market of which we are aware, published or otherwise.

Thickly potted, its sides taper out. It would have been intended to adorn a Straits Chinese family altar. (The Straits Chinese were also known as the peranakan or the babas and nonyas.) It would have been filled with sand to allow incense sticks to stand upright and be burned. Usually, incense and joss sticks would be burnt daily by the eldest member of the Straits household and was intended to symbolise communication between dead and living family members.

It has a green background and cartouches on each side decorated in rose pink.  Each of the two main cartouches are decorated with a pair of phoenixes and peonies – the phoenix and peony motifs are recurring themes in almost all porcelain commissioned from China for the Straits Chinese markets. The areas between the cartouches are amply decorated with sprays of pink peonies.

Phoenixes and peonies traditionally were associated with nonya brides. They were auspicious symbols for weddings and conjugal happiness thereafter, so most such items of nonyaware usually were commissioned for the large and lengthy weddings staged by wealthy Straits Chinese families.

The lower part of the censer has a border of pale green of repeated and possibly highly stylised Shou (longevity) motifs. The upper-most border is decorated with the auspicious symbols of Buddhism, and lotus blooms.

The base is marked clearly in iron red enamel with a factory mark ‘Zhanfuxing zao’.

The Straits Chinese are the ethnic Chinese of the Straits Settlements and nearby areas who had been in Southeast Asia for enough generations that Southeast Asia was now their permanent home. They had also acculturated with local Malay communities to the extent that their Chinese traditions absorbed some Malay and related traditions, as well as some aspects of European culture. They were Daoist and Buddhist. Many spoke a local patois of the Chinese Hokkien dialect mixed with Malay. They regarded themselves as a distinct community quite apart from the Chinese who had emigrated from China more recently who retained their Chinese culture with little acculturation and who maintained their ties with China.

The upper edge retains traces of gilding. There is a small star crack on the lower interior side (many if not post heavily pooter larger Straits Chinese vessels seems to have star cracks at or near their base.) Overall, this is a monumental and rare type of Straits Chinese porcelain.