The clock measures 4 ½” high with its domed rectangular top – and is 3 ¾” long by 2 1/8” wide. There is an old dealers or auctioneers sticker on the base that identifies it as dating circa 1840 and with a price of $2,100. Inasmuch as we have seen far more intricate incense clocks selling for less, we have our doubts that it ever sold for that much – although it certainly is a beauty and is in excellent condition with all five pieces intact and a very lovely patina.

Of the more esoteric devices developed by the Chinese to measure time, perhaps the most arcane are these aromatic incense clocks, which “told time” by the scents they emitted at designated periods. First, wood ash was tamped firmly in the tray. Then the seal was placed over the ash. A depression was made in the ash base along the entire length of the seal’s track, into which special powdered incense was carefully poured. When the seal was lifted, the incense remained in the track. The incense was then lighted and burned continuously for 24 hours. (For similar examples, see “The Trail of Time,” a book by Silvio A. Bedini.) The intricate and refined beauty of these utilitarian objects made incense clocks an important accoutrement in the scholar’s study. A very unusual piece in that it used a powdered type of incense, which was kept in the bottom compartment and then put into the top compartment with the tiny spoon over the little handled stencil tray to make a meandering pattern that was lit and burned for a fixed period.