Lot details Japan, 19th century Of rectangular form, the cover bearing a lustrous kinji ground finely decorated in gold, silver, and black hiramaki-e and takamaki-e with a heron perched on the rudder of a small boat amid reeds in a lake, the interior with a matching tray similarly decorated with a heron in flight above grasses beside a gnarled pine tree, further with two smaller kinji ground boxes with covers similarly decorated with floral motifs. The interiors and bases of nashiji with gold fundame edges. The base of the box with a circular aperture. WIDTH 10.8 cm Condition: Very good condition with minor surface wear. Provenance: From a private collection in New York, USA. The present set was used for the incense matching game. Like the Way of Tea and flower arrangement, the enjoyment of incense had developed into a complex pastime by the Edo period and had a large following during the seventeenth century. The various games involve guessing a fragrance from among more than 2,000 varieties, matching fragrances, and blending incenses to suggest certain moods. Auction comparison: Compare to a closely related lacquer incense box with tray and four lacquer boxes, sold at Woolley & Wallis, Japanese Works of Art, 7 December 2020, Salisbury, lot 376 (sold for hammer price 4,000 GBP).
Lot details Japan, 19th century Of rectangular form, the cover bearing a lustrous kinji ground finely decorated in gold, silver, and black hiramaki-e and takamaki-e with a heron perched on the rudder of a small boat amid reeds in a lake, the interior with a matching tray similarly decorated with a heron in flight above grasses beside a gnarled pine tree, further with two smaller kinji ground boxes with covers similarly decorated with floral motifs. The interiors and bases of nashiji with gold fundame edges. The base of the box with a circular aperture. WIDTH 10.8 cm Condition: Very good condition with minor surface wear. Provenance: From a private collection in New York, USA. The present set was used for the incense matching game. Like the Way of Tea and flower arrangement, the enjoyment of incense had developed into a complex pastime by the Edo period and had a large following during the seventeenth century. The various games involve guessing a fragrance from among more than 2,000 varieties, matching fragrances, and blending incenses to suggest certain moods. Auction comparison: Compare to a closely related lacquer incense box with tray and four lacquer boxes, sold at Woolley & Wallis, Japanese Works of Art, 7 December 2020, Salisbury, lot 376 (sold for hammer price 4,000 GBP).
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
