Incense Box (Kōbako)

Japan

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 199

Rich mother-of-pearl inlays in various colors show a scene of men in boats catching fish and surrounded by seagulls. The shape of the incense box and the style of its decoration recall lacquers made in the Ryūkyū Islands (present-day Okinawa). From the fourteenth to the mid-sixteenth century, the Ryūkyū kingdom acted as a center for the flow of goods between China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asian countries. Owing to the rarity of these lacquers, copies or works in a similar style were created in Kyoto, the probable source of this box.

Incense Box (Kōbako), Lacquered wood with mother-of-pearl and metal-wire inlays on black ground, Japan

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Incense Box (Kōbako), Lacquered wood with mother-of-pearl and metal-wire inlays on black ground, Japan
Incense Box (Kōbako), Lacquered wood with mother-of-pearl and metal-wire inlays on black ground, Japan

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