Eggplant Lacquer Incense Container Gold Interior Kogo by Takio

Experience Authentic Japan Art with this Eggplant Incense Container. This Nasu Shape Lacquer Kogo serves as a Japanese Tea Ceremony Tool and Auspicious Motif Gift, featuring Deep Black Lacquer with Gold Leaf Interior and Realistic Stem Sculpting—a must-have for any Wabi Tea Collector. This Signed Lacquer Kogo captures the Nasu Auspicious Symbol beloved in Japanese aesthetics as a Japanese Art Gift of quiet wit and cultural weight.

🔹 [ Basic Details ]
• Artist: Takiō (他喜翁)
• Technique: Sculpted lacquerwork — deep black urushi exterior, gold-foil lined interior, realistic stem (heta) modeling
• Era: 20th century
• Origin: Japan
• Dimensions: Diameter approx. 9.8 cm (including stem), Height approx. 2.8 cm
• Box: Shared wooden box (共箱) inscribed "茄子香合" with red artist seal; some staining on box exterior
• Condition: No chips or cracks on kogo; natural staining on box only

🔹 [ Cultural & Artistic Insight ]
In Japanese dream interpretation (hatsu-yume), the three most auspicious visions of the new year are Fuji, taka (hawk), and nasu (eggplant). This hierarchy places the eggplant in elevated company. Its association with good fortune, flexible growth, and the productive season makes it a recurring motif in tea ceremony objects, lacquerware, and textile design.

Takiō has rendered the nasu with precise fidelity — the stem curves naturally, the shoulders taper with botanical accuracy, and the deep black-brown lacquer surface catches light in the subtle tonal gradations of overripened fruit. Opening the lid reveals a field of gold — interior warmth against outer darkness — a contrast that holds the whole poem of the object.

"Black holds the season's end. Gold holds what comes after."

🔹 [ Deep-Dive Commentary ]
Lacquer (urushi) objects in the shape of natural forms occupy a distinct tradition in Japanese craft. The nasu form has appeared in tea ceremony since at least the Momoyama period, when the famous tea caddy "Nasuemon" — a small eggplant-shaped natsume — became an iconic object of Rikyū's aesthetic world.

Takiō's kogo continues this lineage. The technical challenge of convincingly sculpting the nasu form in lacquer — maintaining the rounded base, the slight irregularity of the natural fruit, the curve and taper of the stem — requires both anatomical observation and material mastery. Urushi lacquer is built up in multiple layers over a wooden core, with each layer sanded before the next is applied. The deep black seen here likely involves layers of kuroe-nuri (black lacquer) over a base of bengara (red iron oxide) ground coats.

The gold-leaf interior (kinkaku or hakuuchi) is applied as the final decorative element, visible only when the container is opened. This interior revelation is an intentional design choice — intimacy and surprise held within an exterior of absolute restraint.

The wooden box bears the inscription 茄子香合 (nasu kogo) in brush ink, with Takiō's personal seal. Some staining on the box exterior is consistent with honest age and does not diminish the kogo itself, which remains in excellent condition.

【日本語解説】

🔹 [ 基本情報 ]
• 作家：他喜翁
• 技法：茄子形漆器（黒漆外面・金箔内面・ヘタ部造形）
• 年代：20世紀
• 産地：日本
• 寸法：直径約9.8cm（ヘタ含む）、高さ約2.8cm
• 箱：共箱（「茄子香合」墨書・朱印）；箱にシミあり
• 状態：香合本体にヒビ・欠けなし。箱のみ経年シミあり

🔹 [ 文化・芸術的解説 ]
初夢の縁起物「一富士二鷹三茄子」に代表されるように、茄子は日本の吉祥文様の中でも格別な地位を持ちます。他喜翁はこの吉祥の果実を精緻な漆細工に昇華させ、外面の深い黒と蓋を開けたときに現れる金箔の内面の対比で、見る者を静かに驚かせます。

🔹 [ 深掘り解説 ]
自然物を模した漆器の伝統は桃山時代にさかのぼります。「なすびの文字」という古い言い回しが示すように、茄子は縁起物として茶道具に古くから取り入れられてきました。他喜翁の作品はその系譜に連なり、ヘタの自然な曲がりまで再現した造形精度と、黒漆のグラデーションが際立ちます。漆は木地に何層も塗り重ねられ、最終的な深みある黒を実現します。内面の金箔は開蓋時のみ現れる密やかな贈り物であり、外面の抑制と内面の輝きの対比が、この作品の詩性を形成しています。

🔹 [ SHIPPING & PACKAGING ]
• Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days
• Carrier: Japan Post EMS / UPS (with tracking)
• Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials