Height 3.4 cm, mouth diameter 5.9 cm, left and right sides 7.2 cm, bottom diameter 6.5 cm
One of the major characteristics of Insei’s works is that many of them are designed in accordance with the court tradition of “yushoku” (the art of wielding incense in the courtroom). This incense container is commonly referred to as a gen boar packet incense container. The gen boar packet is an incense container made from genmochi (rice cakes) wrapped in tatami paper and topped with a gingko leaf and tied with mizuhiki (a traditional Japanese cord for tying a string of paper), which were given by the sovereign or empress on the day of the boar in the tenth lunar month to wish the deceased good health. Although we have seen two other Insei xuan boar incense containers, this one is almost unknown.
The body is slightly thicker than the other two, with a kagome-style design in gold lines on a green ground, a design often used by Ninsei for his incense containers. The white cloudy glaze over the entire outer surface is soft and has the characteristic Insei glaze surface, and the bottom is clay with the Insei seal stamped on the left side of the center. The box in which it is housed is inscribed on the front with the inscription “Insei kagai,” and an accompanying letter states, “Insei kagai with inscription on the front of the box lid by Kanamori Hida no Michiwa, with no difference in handwriting. Since Kanamori Munewa died in Meireki 2, if this inscription is considered to be in Munewa’s handwriting, it was made before Meireki 2. Generally, there are many Insei boxes that are said to have been made by Munewa, but it is difficult to determine to what extent they can be said to have been made by Munewa himself.
