Incense Burner with Silver Cover

Kondo Takahiro

1 of 4

Object Label

The unusual texture and rich color of this vessel are unique in contemporary Japanese ceramics. Kondo has applied a cobalt glaze over a white porcelain body and then used an amalgam of silver, gold, and platinum to achieve the beaded surface effects. The artist belongs to a third-generation porcelain producing family in Kyoto. His grandfathers Kondo Yuzo (1902–1985) received Japan's highest title, National Living Treasure.

Caption

Kondo Takahiro Japanese, born 1958. Incense Burner with Silver Cover, 2001. Porcelain with cobalt glaze and overglaze decoration, 3 3/4 x 5 3/4 x 2 3/8 in. (9.5 x 14.6 x 6.0 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchase gift of Dr. and Mrs. Richard Dickes, 2001.30a-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2001.30a-b_SL3.jpg)

Title

Incense Burner with Silver Cover

Date

2001

Period

Heisei Period

Geography

Place made: Kyoto, Japan

Medium

Porcelain with cobalt glaze and overglaze decoration

Classification

Ceramic

Dimensions

3 3/4 x 5 3/4 x 2 3/8 in. (9.5 x 14.6 x 6.0 cm)

Signatures

Signed on base in English: "Kondo"

Credit Line

Purchase gift of Dr. and Mrs. Richard Dickes

Accession Number

2001.30a-b

Rights

Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

Frequent Art Questions

  • Why are the slots all different sizes? What type of incense would they use?

    I think it is just an aesthetic choice, different sized holes would create different shapes of smoke and perhaps offer a more beautiful smoky composition
    I believe you could burn whatever kind of brick incense strikes your fancy.
  • Can you tell us what this is?

    This box is a very beautiful incense burner. The rectangle with slots in the top is the lid. Burning incense would be placed inside and smoke would rise through the slots.
    Made in 2001, this incense burner represents a modernist interpretation of traditional materials and objects. It's made of the same kind of porcelain as many of the blue-and-white ceramics you see nearby and is colored with cobalt as well.
  • What’s the “overglaze” decoration on this incense burner, please?

    The overglaze is actually one of the artist's signature techniques, the "silver mist" glaze, also known as "gintekisai." This technique uses metals to create droplets of different sizes on the surface of porcelain work.
    The metals used are an amalgam of silver, gold, and platinum. He first glazes the work with the blue cobalt you see here and then overglazes with these metals, which bead on the surface as you see here.
  • Hi! My name is Siena. I was wondering how the incense would be inserted in this burner. Through the slots or does it use cones instead of sticks?

    That whole piece on the top, with the slots, is actually a cover that could be removed. This type of burner likely uses bricks or cones that would be lit once inside. The smoke would escape through the vented top.
    That's cool! Thanks!

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