| Incense
containers. Also called koubako 香箱. Small, lidded containers usually made
of lacquer or ceramic, and sometimes wood, shell or metal, for storing the aromatic
wood burned as incense. Kougou are considered tea utensils because the
incense chips koboku 香木 and pastille nerikou 練香 are fed into the
charcoal ashes used to heat the kettle. Kougou were also displayed on kobukusa
古袱紗 (small cloth wrappers) or kamikamashiki 紙釜敷 (paper kettle-rest) in waiting
rooms *machiai 待合 or *shoin
書院 style tearooms. The early taste for Chinese wares was usurped when Korean and
native wares were integrated into the tea ceremony; they are classified as *wamono
和物 or *karamono 唐物, depending
on the country where they were produced. kougou are of three general types:
royou 炉用 (for the sunken hearth in winter), furoyou 風炉用 (for the
portable brazier in summer) and ro・furo kenyou 炉・風炉兼用 (for all seasons).
Royou kougou are made in a great variety of foreign and domestic styles.
The 1855 KATAMONO KOUGOU ICHIRAN 形物香合一覧 (List of cast ceramic incense
containers) lists Koushi 交趾 (Tonkin), *sometsuke
染付 and *seiji 青磁 among
Chinese the ceramics used, and *rakuyaki
楽焼, Ninsei 仁清, *shinoyaki
志野焼, *oribeyaki 織部焼, *igayaki
伊賀焼, and *shigarakiyaki
信楽焼 among the Japanese. For furoyou, red lacquer carving, tsuishu
堆朱, cunxing zonsei 存星, bracken-curls guri 屈利, and mother-of-peral
inlay *raden 螺鈿 were poular
for karamono, and gold and silver powder *makie
蒔絵, kamakura carving kamakurabori 鎌倉彫, and papier-mache lacquerwork,
ikkanbari 一閑張 were common among wamono-style pieces. For ro
and furo kougou, clam hiougigai 檜扇貝 (fan shell), sahari 砂張
and cloisonne were popular. Kougou should not be confused with *kouro
香炉 or incense burners. |
