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Incense burner (koro)

late 17th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 201
The gift of the Hans Syz Collection endows the Museum with nearly three hundred examples of European and Asian ceramics meticulously acquired by Dr. Syz to chart the migration of models and patterns from East to West. Documenting a continuous process of influence and adaptation, these pieces provide a discriminating review of the nuances of stylistic change resulting from three centuries of trade.

Among the most telling comparisons is that of a Japanese incense burner (koro) and its Viennese counterpart. The Japanese model, finely enameled in a palette of light coral, green, and blue in the kakiemon style of late-seventeenth-century Japanese porcelain, is known to have been exported to Europe, as Augustus the Strong, elector of Saxony, acquired an example in 1723. While no records are known to survive from Du Paquier's factory, it is likely that the koro reached Vienna, as it had Dresden, through the intermediacy of a merchant. In Vienna Du Paquier boldly converted the Japanese form to a European one with new proportions, Baroque mask feet, European pastoral scenes.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Incense burner (koro)
  • Date: late 17th century
  • Culture: Japanese, for European market
  • Medium: Hard-paste porcelain painted with cobalt blue under and colored enamels over transparent glaze (Hizen ware; Kakiemon type)
  • Dimensions: Height: 4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm)
  • Classification: Ceramics-Porcelain-Export
  • Credit Line: The Hans Syz Collection, Gift of Stephan B. Syz and John D. Syz, 1995
  • Object Number: 1995.268.114a, b
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

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Covered bowl with figures in landscape, Vienna, Hard-paste porcelain painted with colored enamels over transparent glaze, Austrian, Vienna
Covered bowl with figures in landscape
Vienna
Claudius Innocentius Du Paquier period
ca. 1725
Ollio pot with cover and stand, Vienna, Hard-paste porcelain, Austrian, Vienna
Ollio pot with cover and stand
Vienna
Elias Baeck
ca. 1725
Dish with tiger and bamboo, Hard-paste porcelain painted with cobalt blue under transparent glaze (Hizen ware; Kakiemon type), Japanese, for European market
Dish with tiger and bamboo
Japanese, for European market
ca. 1720
Dish with dragon, Hard-paste porcelain painted with colored enamels over transparent glaze (Hizen ware; Kakiemon type), Japanese, for European market
Dish with dragon
Japanese, for European market
1680–1700
Dish with the Chinese story of Sima Guang, Hard-paste porcelain painted with colored enamels over transparent glaze (Hizen ware; Kakiemon type), Japanese, for European market
Dish with the Chinese story of Sima Guang
Japanese, for European market
ca. 1700–1720

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