A PAIR OF TIANQI AND QIANGJIN RECTANGULAR LACQUER STANDS17th/18th century Both finely decorated with incised designs highlighted in various shades of red, brown and green and filled in gold on a bright red ground, the canted rectangulatr tops each with a sinuous phoenix perched on a branch of flowering peonies issuing from a pitted rock, surrounded by a border of shaped cartouches with scrolling floral designs reserved on a diaper ground, the narrow waist with pierced panels alternating with floral designs, the shaped apron with further birds and flowering prunus, the design continuing into the curling legs terminating in wept feet each terminating with an acanthus leaf. 65cm (25 1/2in) long x 55.5cm (21 6/8in) high x 46cm (18in) deep. (2). 十七/十八世紀 戧金填漆開光花鳥紋長香幾一對 Incense stands such as the present example were in both religious and secular contexts, as contemporaneous paintings and prints illustrate. Often positioned in the centre of a room, such stands supported incense burners but also scholar's rocks and miniature gardens which were associated with the cosmic forces and the heavens. These stands were designed with great attention to detail and form, pleasing to the eye from any angle. See a related tianqi and qiangjin lacquer incense stand, decorated with dragons, Kangxi six-character mark and of the period, illustrated in Imperial Furniture of Ming and Qing Dynasties: Classics of the Forbidden City , Beijing, 2008, p.304, no.333. pare with a related gilt and polychrome lacquer 'elephant' incense stand, 18th century, displaying a similarly-shaped apron and cabriole legs, which was sold at London, 16 May 2019, lot 75.