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PEONIES KÔRÔ INCENSE BURNER – EDO

Reference: 2019-719

Incense burner in lacquer, hexagonal and curved shaped, decorated with hira and takamaki-e in gold and silver lacquer on a nashi-ji background, peonies along the banks of a river and a mount. The lid has a cruciform opening.

A mon is affixed to one side of the diffuser. It is the mon of the family Ōkubo (大久保)a family belonging to the Fudai-Daimyo house (the vassals of the Tokugawa family). The head of the family was created Daimyo by the Tokugawa family in 1684. From 1725 to 1850, the family lived in Karasuyama (Shimozuke). Their fortune is estimated in 1850 at 30 000 Koku of rice. The Ōkubo clan is a leading samurai clan during the Sengoku and Edo periods.

Japan – Edo period (1603-1868)

Height: 2.56 in / 6.5 cm – length: 2.05 in / 5.2 cm – width: 1.178 in / 4.5 cm

Incense in Japan is a true art of living. Three precious woods are used in its manufacture: Agar wood, Santai wood and Taboo wood. The use of incense expresses a certain refinement. The gestures are precise and the ingredients are meticulously dosed. Kōdō is the Japanese art of appreciating fragrances. It is one of the three traditional arts along with the tea ceremony and ikebana. During a ceremony, you can smell two of the fragrances exhaled by burnt scented woods. The rules of the ceremony of kōdō are codified towards the end of the 14th century.

There are traditionally ten virtues of kōdō: it sharpens the senses, purifies the body and mind, eliminates “pollutants”, awakens the spirit, cures feelings of loneliness, calms restless periods, is not unpleasant, even small quantities are sufficient, it does not decompose after a very long time, habitual use does not harm.