Thursday, October 1, 2020

Koros and censers

At the end of our lives we hope we will look back and, like an incense stick completely burned away, will have poured forth all our fragrance into the world.
~Prem Prakash


For Art Thursday, incense burners, censers, koro. Wikipedia says, "Incense fragrances can be of such great strength that they obscure other less desirable odours" (such as decay at funerals and sweatiness in packed churches). "Incense clocks" have also been used to tell time-- you know how much time has passed by how much has burned. Incense has also been used to keep insects away. We have a pretty fragrance-free household, so no incense here.

Egyptian Incense Burner, 7th century BC
Walters Art Museum

Incense burner in shape of lying ox
Edo period, 17th century, bronze
Tokyo National Museum

Incense Burner ("Koro") supported by entwined dragons
mid 19th century (Edo)
Walters Art Museum

Incense burner in the shape of daikon with mouse, Japan
Meiji period, bronze
Exhibit in the Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, Germany
photo by Daderot

Incense burner (koro) with peacocks
Suzuki Chokichi signing as Kako (1848–1919)
Victoria and Albert Museum
photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen

Censer of Fire God Quetzalpapalotl
Mexico, Teotihuacan, Teotihuacán, A.D. 200-700
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Incense burning at a temple
Taipei, Taiwan
photo by Miuki

Incense Burner (koro) with Design of Peacock and Birds amid Flowers
by Hayashi Kodenji (Japan, 1831-1915)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Kōdō (香道, "Way of Fragrance") is the art of appreciating Japanese incense.

1 comment:

HWY said...

These are gorgeous (or in the case of the Egyptian one...old but beautiful). Interesting that there's one from Mexico as well.

The dragon "Koro" is exceptionally nice.

Still trying to figure out why there is a mouse on the radish. :-)