Provenance
Hirase Family → Fujita Family
Dimensions
Height: 11.0 cm
Front-to-back: 5.1–9.4 cm
Weight: 115 g
Owner
Osaka, Fujita Art Museum
The Dutch White Goose incense container is listed in the Shikimono Kōgō Rankings under the category of Kanjin-mon (donor-sponsored). The rankings write it as “Kōmō” (Red Hair) and read it as “Oranda”.
Dutch ceramics have been imported since the early Momoyama period, but is this incense container a product of the Delft kilns in Holland?
Its form is exceptionally precise, and its coloring is remarkably elegant: a white glaze base with only slight red glaze accents on the beak, eyes, and legs, complemented by gold decoration on the collar. Its charmingly petite dimensions appealed to tea masters, making it highly prized.
Moreover, only one other piece of this type exists, differing only in the absence of gold decoration. Precisely for this reason, it has been the subject of much discussion among tea practitioners.
In Holland, it is unclear what purpose this vessel originally served, but one cannot help but admire the skill with which such a delightful piece was crafted. It comes from the Hirase family collection and is now held by the Fujita family.
No gold decoration on the collar
