Yuzu Incense Container by Sasaki Shoraku with Original Box, Tea Ceremony

The yuzu sits in the hand — vivid amber-yellow, two green leaves reaching upward, a brown stem at the crown — and the form is so precise that the seam between lid and base requires a second look to locate. This is how Sasaki Shoraku works: the object convinces before the eye resolves its nature.

This ceramic yuzu (Japanese citrus) kogo was made by Sasaki Shoraku, a Kyoto-lineage ceramicist whose work in figural tea utensils reflects the Kyoto tradition of mimetic craft — objects that carry cultural weight through the discipline of their resemblance. The yuzu form is rendered in vivid amber-yellow glaze with hand-modeled green leaves in contrasting celadon and a rich brown stem. The textured surface of the yuzu skin is reproduced through deliberate glaze application and surface treatment, creating an impression of the fruit's characteristic dimpling. Diameter approximately 5 cm, height approximately 4.5 cm. Original tomobako present.

The yuzu holds a specific place in Japanese culture: a winter citrus associated with the winter solstice (toji), when yuzu baths are taken and the fruit appears in ceremony and cuisine alike. As a kogo, this piece carries that seasonal meaning into the tea room — the host who selects a yuzu-shaped incense container announces both the season and the attentiveness to natural cycles that chado cultivates. Sasaki Shoraku's authorship connects the piece to the Kyoto ceramic tradition of meticulous figural work for the tea ceremony.

The photogenic intensity of the coloration — the saturated yellow against the matte wood display surface — gives this kogo an immediacy unusual in tea utensils. It reads as joy without announcing itself. For collectors outside the tea context, the piece functions as a sculptural object of convincing naturalism: a fruit made permanent in fired clay, the leaves still reaching.

The wooden box bears the artist's inscription and seal. The vessel presents in clean condition consistent with careful storage. A minor glaze irregularity on the upper surface is visible and consistent with the hand-made process.

【日本語説明】
佐々木松楽造の柚子香合です。共箱付き。直径約5cm、高さ約4.5cm。鮮やかな黄色の柚子形に緑の葉と茶色の枝が施された彩色豊かな香合。茶道具として使用可能な状態です。

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