Taoist Immortal Liu Hai Gama Sennin on Money Frog Vintage Chinese Bronze Censer 劉海蟾

Vintage Chinese Bronze Incense Burner
Taoist Lui Hai 劉海蟾
On Money Frog Censer
Origin: China, Circa: early-mid 1900s'
H 7 in. (25cm), W 5.5 in. (11.5cm), D 6 in. (9cm)
Condition: o.a. Very good!

This early 1900s Chinese bronze censer depicting the Liu Hai (Japanese: Gama Sennin) in a contemplative form. His facial features are childlike, clothed in sumptuous robes exhibiting two embossed lucky bats on the sleeves, and a longevity crane on his back. He is holding the mythical three-legged Money Frog in his right hand, and in his left a row of Chinese gold coins. Crouching beneath the sage is a large frog censer. Frogs are revered in many cultures as a magical totem, and ethnopharmacology has revealed that some of these bufo-toxins found in them are indeed quite transformative: ranging from highly potent painkillers to hallucinogens. Hence this early 20th-century censer was undoubtedly used as a censer and a positive Feng-Shui object. It is in excellent condition.