{"product_id":"funa-kogo-lacquer-incense-box-yumyosai-konomi-by-dojo-soko-soko-kobo","title":"Funa-Kōgō Lacquer Incense Box — Yūmyōsai Konomi by Dōjō Sōkō, Sōkō Kōbō","description":"Experience Authentic Japan Art with this Funa Kogo Lacquer Box. This Japanese Incense Container serves as a Tea Ceremony Kogo and Urushi Maki-e Box, featuring Gold Maki-e Lacquerware and Urasenke Konomi Design—a must-have for any Art Collector drawn to Japanese Tea Ceremony.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ]\u003cbr\u003e• Artist: Dōjō Sōkō (道場宗廣), Sōkō Kōbō workshop\u003cbr\u003e• Technique: Vermilion and dark urushi lacquer over wood; intentionally rough-hewn textured lid surface (carved\/built-up urushi); gold maki-e wave or sail motifs on lower body; red-lacquer calligraphic inscription on end panel\u003cbr\u003e• Era: 1990s–2000–2006\u003cbr\u003e• Origin: Japan (lacquer workshop)\u003cbr\u003e• Dimensions: Length approx. 15 cm, Width approx. 4.5 cm, Height approx. 4 cm (estimate from images)\u003cbr\u003e• Box: Tomobako — signed kiri-wood box with brush-written inscription and red seal; yellow silk cloth wrapping\u003cbr\u003e• Condition: Excellent. Lacquer surface vibrant and intact. Box clean with no damage.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ CULTURAL \u0026amp; ARTISTIC INSIGHT ]\u003cbr\u003eThe funa-kōgō — the boat-shaped incense container — holds a specific place in the choreography of a formal chaji. It is brought to the hearth before the charcoal is arranged, its kō released into the coals before the guests enter the inner room. The shape is ancient: the prow-curved silhouette echoes the shallow-drafted boats of the Seto Inland Sea, and in the tea tradition, the form carries connotations of crossing, of threshold, of passage between one state and another.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis piece carries the design preference of Yūmyōsai (又妙斎), the 15th-generation iemoto of the Urasenke school of tea — one of the defining authorities of the living tradition. A konomi piece is not simply a commissioned object; it is a vessel through which the iemoto's aesthetic understanding is made physical. The pairing of a rough, bark-like vermilion lid — suggestive of a weathered log drifting on water — with the polished dark body bearing small gold maki-e sail or wave forms creates a deliberate visual tension: the wild and the refined held in the same hand. The red-lacquer characters on the end panel complete the piece as text: the object is named, anchored in the tradition by the master's own calligraphic voice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe surface texture of the lid is not accident or aging. It is craft as argument: that beauty does not require smoothness, that roughness — handled with intention — carries more presence than polish.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ DEEP-DIVE COMMENTARY ]\u003cbr\u003eFuna means boat. Kōgō means incense container. The funa-kōgō form appears in tea records from at least the Momoyama period, when the relationship between tea and incense was codified into the formal chaji structure. The boat shape — low, elongated, curved at bow and stern — is one of the classic kōgō categories alongside round, square, and shell-form containers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe textured lid technique visible here — where urushi is built up, scored, or carved to create a dramatically uneven surface — belongs to a family of lacquer treatments that prize controlled irregularity. The vermilion (shu) base reads through the dark overcoat where ridges catch light, producing depth and warmth that smooth lacquer cannot replicate. The effect reads as bark, as stone, as the surface of water frozen in movement.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGold maki-e on the lower register grounds the piece. The small triangular or flame-like forms — possibly stylized waves, sails, or pine needles depending on the design program — are applied with restraint. They do not compete with the texture above. They complete it by offering contrast: the precision of the gold against the roughness of the lid asserts the maker's full range.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA konomi piece carries additional value for collectors and practitioners alike. The iemoto's design preference is documented, titled, and transmitted. This funa-kōgō bearing Yūmyōsai konomi attribution belongs to a lineage of objects designed to be used — and to teach, through use, what the tradition considers beautiful.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDōjō Sōkō and the Sōkō Kōbō workshop have produced konomi pieces for Urasenke over multiple generations. The tomobako is the piece's provenance document: the inscription names the piece, the artist, and the design lineage. In the tea world, the box is as important as the object it contains.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e[ JAPANESE DESCRIPTION \/ 日本語解説 ]\u003cbr\u003e茶道具の舟香合。又妙斎（裏千家十五代家元）のお好みによる意匠を、宗廣工房の道場宗廣が制作した一品。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e蓋の表面は意図的に荒々しく仕上げられ、朱漆を重ねた上に刻みや起伏を施すことで、木肌や岩肌を思わせる力強い質感が生まれている。その荒れた表情と、金蒔絵の小紋（波形あるいは帆形）が映える漆黒の胴部が対照をなし、荒と精のあいだに静かな緊張を生む。端面には朱漆書きの銘文があり、作品に言葉と名前を与えている。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e舟香合は炭手前のなかで炉に先行して持ち出され、香が炭に落とされることで席の空気が整えられる。その形状は古く、瀬戸内海の小舟に由来するとも言われ、通過・移行・閾のイメージを帯びている。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eお好み道具とは、家元の美意識が物質に宿った存在である。それはただの注文品ではなく、稽古と鑑賞のなかで繰り返し参照される美の基準点である。宗廣工房は裏千家のお好み物を複数世代にわたって手がけており、この香合はその系譜に連なる一点である。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e共箱・共布付き。箱の墨書と印が、銘・作者・お好みの来歴を証している。茶の世界において、箱は物と等価の証書である。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e状態は良好。漆の艶・発色ともに申し分なく、箱も清潔で傷みなし。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ SHIPPING \u0026amp; PACKAGING ]\u003cbr\u003e• Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days\u003cbr\u003e• Carrier: Japan Post EMS \/ UPS (with tracking)\u003cbr\u003e• Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials","brand":"The Modern Zen Archive","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":61843718275442,"sku":"260511_a_2829","price":1068.0,"currency_code":"AED","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/5680\/3698\/files\/m56656528004_1.jpg?v=1778469025","url":"https:\/\/checkout.themodernzenarchive.com\/products\/funa-kogo-lacquer-incense-box-yumyosai-konomi-by-dojo-soko-soko-kobo","provider":"The Modern Zen Archive","version":"1.0","type":"link"}