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Bronze Incense Burner with Silver-inlaid Design of Tongdosa Temple

통도사 청동 은입사 향완(2002) ( 通度寺 靑銅 銀入絲 香垸(2002) )

Heritage Search Detail
Classification Treasure
Name of Cultural Properties Bronze Incense Burner with Silver-inlaid Design of Tongdosa Temple
Quantity 1
Designated Date 2002.10.19
Age The 15th year of the reign of King Hyeonjong of Joseon (1674)
Address Tongdosa Museum 108, Tongdosa-ro, Habuk-myeon, Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do

This bronze incense burner with silver-inlaid design is the largest surviving one among the similar kinds produced during the Goryeo and Joseon Periods. With a round rice bowl-shaped body with a wide mouth rim, mounted on a flared foot, it is in a classical style of goblet-type incense burners. Four silver wire-inlaid circles enclosing Sanskrit characters are placed around the body, on the front and back, and on the left and right sides, in a symmetric manner. The area between the circles is filled with lotus and scrolls and yeouidu (swirling cloud-like design) motifs, inlaid with fine wire. The foot with a disk-shaped rim is adorned in its upper section with long rectangular-shaped lotus petals with two rows of petals, and in the lower section, with two phoenixes flying amid clouds with widespread wings, placed symmetrically to each other. The incised inscription on the back informs that this incense burner was made in 1674 by a certain Sin Ae-nam. This footed incense burner, a classical Goryeo-style goblet-type silver-inlaid bronze incense burner, is one of the rare such items surviving to the present. It is also a very rare Joseon Dynasty incense burner whose date of creation is precisely known, along with the name of the artisan who made it and the temple where it was initially offered. In spite of being a Buddhist relic from late Joseon where Buddhism, under the strong influence of Confucianism, was relegated to the edge of the social and cultural scene, the incense burner is not only large in size, but also exquisitely decorated with silver-inlaid motifs. The fact that the bowl and its foot were separately cast and put together also makes this incense burner one of a kind, having a high significance for the history of Korean art.