Melon-Shaped Incense Burner (Akoda Kōro) with Cranes, Turtles, Pine, and Bamboo
Not on view
Besides incense game sets, incense burners were often used in Japan for perfuming clothes, hair, and rooms. Six-lobed lacquer incense burners in the shape of a pumpkin or melon, such as this one, were called akoda-kōro. Its thick wooden body is covered in numerous lacquer layers and decorated with sprinkled gold (maki-e) patterns. Lined with a copper alloy, ash would have been placed inside both to further to protect the vessel and keep the incense burning. The incense burner is covered with an openwork, basket-weave metal lid.
Symbols from Chinese lore, present in Japanese art since ancient times, converge in the decoration of this incense burner. The crane and tortoise are emblematic of longevity, an auspicious theme. When these animals are depicted together with bamboo, evergreen pine, and plum flowers—beloved as the first to bloom each year—they signify Mount Penglai (or Hōrai in Japanese), a realm of immortals, however plum blossoms are missing from this composition.
