Incense Box in the Shape of a Folding Fan

Description This box, used to hold incense pellets, represents Kyoto potters' penchant for replicating luxury items also made in Kyoto. Kenzan's signature is cleverly incorporated into the colophon on the fan's face, which bears a Chinese poem and a "painting" of a flowering branch.

Exhibitions

• Master Potters of Japan. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1984.

Provenance William T. / Henry Walters Collection, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by William T. or Henry Walters