Conch-shaped incense container with inserted tray

Anonymous artist

Anonymous artist - Conch-shaped incense container with inserted tray
The lid of this conch-shaped container is ornamented with a raised pattern imitating the texture of a shell (its individual ribs), enhanced in the kirigane technique. Its peripheral walls are decorated on a gold fundame ground with the motif of a running stream with waves and a peasant woman drawing water into buckets. The container’s opposite side features a fishing village with a fisherman drying fish, and a pine wood. The lid’s interior displays an elaborate narrative, descriptive incident. A poetess is seated on a terrace, clad in a garment ornamented with cherry blossoms, clasping in her hand a scroll with a poem. Depicted in the forefront is a pine tree, in the background a garden with a lantern. The fitted tray within the box offers the motif of a pair of mandarin ducks. The container’s interior and bottom are finished in nashiji technique. (See Filip Suchomel and Marcela Suchomelová: A Surface Created for Decoration, Prague 2002, pp. 264–265)
date:
measurements: height 4,3 cm
width 13,3 cm
depth 9,9 cm
material: Wood
technique: Natural lacquer decorated in gold and silver hiramaki-e, usuniku takamaki-e, togidashi maki-e, kirigane, hyōmon, tsukegaki and nashiji
inscription:
inventory number: Vu 100
gallery collection: Collection of Asian and African Art