Accessories
Box, Paulownia wood with white lacquer, with inscription
Provenance
Hakutsuru, Kano family
Dimensions
Height: 9.5 cm
Mouth diameter: 3.6–5.8 cm
Front-to-back: 10.8 cm
Side-to-side: 6.4 cm
Base diameter: 3.5–4.2 cm
Weight: 123 g
Ninsei demonstrates his technical prowess across various tea utensils, and he also crafted numerous incense containers. Each impresses with its elegant form, perfectly suited to its function as an incense container.
This “Rooster” incense container is larger than usual, depicting a male rooster. It is an exceptionally refined and imposing work, adorned with a richly colored glaze and accented with gold lines. The author has also seen smaller, exquisite pieces of the same type, including a female rooster, suggesting they may have been intended as a pair.
The incense container’s tray bears the carved inscription “Ninsei.” Furthermore, the box inscription features the characters “Kansō” (関霜). This likely refers to the Chinese story of the loud crowing of a rooster at the Hangu Pass, expressing a sense of high-spiritedness. It attests to the piece’s former ownership by a connoisseur.
