Accessories
Box: White Paulownia Wood Inscription: Written by Hara Sankei
Inside Lid: Inscription by the Same Hand
Provenance
Hara Sankei
Dimensions
Height: 3.8 cm
Body Diameter: 5.3 cm
Weight: 30 g
Owner
Hatakeyama Memorial Museum, Tokyo
This incense box features a design of a single bush of hagi in full bloom on the lid’s exterior, rendered with mother-of-pearl inlay. The underside of the lid is adorned with maki-e depicting a flock of sparrows. The tasteful tin edging complements the overall well-preserved condition.
This small square box was likely part of a cosmetic box set and is also well-suited as an incense container.
It was once treasured by Hara Sankei, who personally inscribed the box. In the secular world, when speaking of tin-rimmed incense boxes, it is said that the practice began with small boxes made from the Heian to Kamakura periods, where tin was used at the joint between the body and lid. At that time, it seems almost all were made in this manner.
However, the production of cosmetic boxes seems to have ceased thereafter, and consequently, tin-rimmed small boxes, apart from particular imitations, appear to have ceased production entirely.
The tin-edged boxes of old are of excellent quality. Later copies sometimes used materials heavily mixed with lead, which naturally deteriorate over time, causing the lids to become stuck and rendering them largely unusable.
