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Description: | This type of item was once used for time keeping, but was later used by monks or scholars in meditation and for aesthetical pleasure.
A powdered incense clock made of brass, copper and paktong. Paktong translates as 'white copper' and is a silver-white alloy consisting of copper, zinc and nickel. The clock is shaped in the form of a ruyi-sceptre, and consists of an assemblage of two trays, an incense seal, a tamper plate and a cover. The pieces fit inside of each other. The first tray or base is to hold powdered incense. The second tray is to hold a fine layer of white wood ash as a bed for the incense. The incense seal is laid down on top of a bed of wood ash, while the incense powder is being poured over it. Then the incense powder is compacted lightly by a tamper plate, which is placed on top to produce a continuous trail of powdered incense. The progress of the burning incense helps tell the time. Finally, the incense clock is covered by a pierced copper plate to prevent any breeze that would accelerate the burning and alter the steady measure of time. | Publisher: | http://www.horniman.ac.uk/ | Rights holder: | Horniman Museum and Gardens | Subjects: | brass (alloy) incense clocks copper paktong brass | Source: | Horniman Museum | Identifier: | oai:oai.horniman.ac.uk:object-64708 | Go to resource |
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tray
Upper tier of the powdered…
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