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A delightful and very rare 17th century Arita porcelain bird form kōgō (incense container) in the shape of a swallow, its alert head tilted inquisitively to the left, with delicately moulded wings crossed upon its back, finely and naturalistically painted in underglaze cobalt blue
 
Arita ware, Hizen province, Japan
Edo Period (17th century)
circa 1660-80
 
A very rare and attractive bird form porcelain box (incense container) in the shape of a swallow, with details and feathers finely and naturalistically painted in underglaze cobalt blue, the lower oval body form section in plain white glaze.
 
The important documentary Japanese porcelain shipment of the 'Nieuwenhoven', a vessel of the Dutch East India Compay which transported the first recorded Japanese porcelain shipment out of the 'Amerongen' from Batavia in 1665, includes in its cargo list '298 little swallows' (small boxes in the shape of swallows) which were shipped to Holland and quickly sparked a Japanese porcelain craze throughout the noble and aristocratic houses of Europe.  
 
Incense containers were originally made for the Japanese tea ceremony, and it is likely that few 17th century Europeans would have understood its use as a container to house blended aromatic ingredients, seeing it instead as a highly decorative porcelain box. The swallow is a symbol of good fortune, fidelity in marriage, and fertility in Japan, and 17th century Japanese porcelain models of swallows are very rare. 
 
Fits snugly in the palm of ones hand - as delicate as the little bird it emulates.
 
Similar bird form kōgōs are in the Kyushu Ceramic Museum, illustrated in Complete Catalogue of Shibata Collection of 1990. Also in the Collection of the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art (Toronto) Macdonald Collection of Japanese porcelain. See Gardiner Museum G20.9.4a-b
 
Measurements:
3.6 inches in length (9.2 cm) and 1.5 inches in height (3.8 cm).
 
Condition report:
In very fine condition with small kintsugi (gold lacquer repair) to the end of one of the tailfeathers. Small deposits of sand and kiln grit stuck in the glaze on the base from original firing.