Pair of Incense Boxes (Kōgō) in the Shape of Mandarin Ducks
Not on view
The Altman bequest to The Met included fifty Japanese lacquers, featuring a group of small decorative incense boxes. Such objects were popular collectibles in Europe during the second half of the nineteenth century, following the eighteenth-century fashion of collecting small maki-e objects as part of aristocratic interior decoration. In East Asia mandarin ducks represent marital bliss and fidelity; they are often depicted on ceramics, lacquers, and textiles as auspicious symbols associated with weddings.
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