Tripod Censer with Upright Loop Handles & Ribbed Water Dropper

No, they're not broken. Those cracks were the whole point.

Ge ware is famous for its crackle. As the glaze cooled faster than the clay beneath it, it split into a web of fine lines, and Song potters learned to welcome it. Collectors call the result "golden threads and iron wires" (jinsi tiexian): darker, bolder cracks crossed by finer, paler ones. Where the glaze thins at the rim, the dark body shows through as a "purple mouth"; at the unglazed feet, an "iron foot."

This is a little set for a scholar's desk. Two tripod censers with upright loop handles, a shape borrowed from ancient bronze ding ritual vessels, were for burning incense while reading or painting. Between them sits a melon-ribbed water pot, used to hold the water that turns an inkstick into ink.

The biggest piece is only about 5 cm tall. Attributed to Ge ware of the Song dynasty.

Chinese incense vessels ultimately derived from the ritual bronze ding of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The form combines ritual symbolism with practical function, featuring a pair of symmetrical upright handles at the rim, a full rounded body, and three rounded feet beneath. Its compact, well-proportioned form is characteristic of small censers intended for the scholar’s desk or studio.

The entire vessel is covered in a greyish-blue to deep ink-blue Ge-type glaze, its surface densely traversed by the characteristic network of ice-crackle crazing. This crackled surface is a defining feature of Ge ware and Ge-type ceramics, resulting from the differing coefficients of expansion between the porcelain body and glaze, which cause the glaze to fracture naturally during cooling. The resulting crackle was traditionally enhanced through staining to accentuate the contrast between the intersecting lines. Along the rim, where the glaze layer is thinner, the exposed darker body creates a subtle “purple mouth” (zikou) effect, a characteristic feature frequently associated with Ge-type and archaistic imitations of Ge ware.

Base of tripod incense burner with three nipple-shaped feet. Exposed foot tips show dark brown iron-colored rims, known as "iron feet". The base is fully covered by celadon glaze with naturally interlaced crackles. Thick and lustrous glaze is the signature feature of black-body Ge ware. The iron feet come from iron-rich clay, forming dark color after firing, matching the ice crackle glaze, a classic craft of Song-Yuan Longquan ritual imitation wares.

The vessel is of a ribbed, melon-form body with multiple vertical facets, a broad mouth, full rounded belly, and raised foot ring. The form derives from the melon-ribbed vessels of the Tang dynasty and became a classic shape among objects for the scholar’s studio, its rounded contours conveying a sense of fullness and harmony. The entire vessel is covered in a blue-grey Ge-type glaze, densely traversed by the characteristic network of ice-crackle crazing. Caused by the differing rates of expansion and contraction between the porcelain body and glaze, such crackling was originally a firing phenomenon; within the Ge ware tradition, however, it was deliberately retained and elevated into a defining aesthetic feature.

The base is fitted with a hexagonal foot ring that follows the contours of the vessel, with the foot edge left unglazed to reveal a deep iron-brown body, characteristic of the so-called “iron foot” (tiez u). The underside is fully covered in a blue-grey glaze, densely traversed by an interlacing network of crackle. The larger fissures have developed into deep brown lines, while the finer crackles appear pale yellow, producing the classic “golden threads and iron wires” (jinsi tiexian) effect. The exterior exhibits the same blue-grey glaze and crackle, with a substantial, lustrous glaze layer. Together, the dark body, richly crackled surface, and archaistic form exemplify the refined aesthetic of Ge-type scholar’s wares inspired by the celebrated celadon traditions of Longquan.