AN UNUSUAL AND EARLY LACQUERED BENTWOOD ‘CHRYSANTHEMUM AND NOSHI’ KORO (INCENSE BURNER)

拍品描述

AN UNUSUAL AND EARLY LACQUERED BENTWOOD ‘CHRYSANTHEMUM AND NOSHI’ KORO (INCENSE BURNER) Japan, 17th-early 18th century, early Edo period (1615–1868) Of upright cylindrical form, ingeniously constructed from a thin, flexible sheet of keyaki wood bent around the body and secured along the vertical seam with a closely spaced series of small metal staples. The richly grained wood is finely decorated in gold, silver, and black takamaki-e and hiramaki-e, with dense nashiji borders, depicting a continuous arrangement of chrysanthemums, peonies, and auspicious bundles of folded gift paper (noshi). The fitted wood cover is pierced with nine circular apertures arranged as the kuyomon, or ‘nine-star’ crest, traditionally associated with the Hosokawa clan, and surrounded by a dense nashiji border. SIZE 7 x 7.8 cm With a wood tomobako (storage box). The present koro is distinguished by its rare bentwood construction, in which a thin sheet of keyaki was curved into cylindrical form and fastened along the join with metal staples. This technically demanding method, together with the richly detailed lacquer decoration, supports an early Edo-period dating. The nine apertures of the cover form the kuyomon, a crest closely associated with the Hosokawa clan, suggesting that the incense burner may have been produced for a patron connected with that powerful daimyo family.

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