A JAPANESE SATSUMA 'ZODIAC' INCENSE BURNER, KORO

Meiji period

The tapered, quatrefoil-section body finely painted with two shaped cartouches depicting Immortals and two enclosing landscapes, all on a ground of stylised lotus, the foot encircled with a band of lappets, the steep shoulder with the twelve Zodiac animals beneath a metal-bound rim and a silver cover with a dragon among clouds and plovers on a seashore, an impressed illegible mark to the base

15.5cm high (2)

A depiction of the twelve animals of Zodiac on a Satsuma piece is unusual and this particular design shows even more signs of individuality. Whilst most of the animals appear to act as nature intended, the rabbit seated on the back of the boar is wearing a red haori jacket and reading from a scroll; two monkeys, one equipped with a long whip and a leash, are taming a small dragon clad in a shabby jacket and a large straw hat, making him look more like an angry peasant rather than a mythical beast.

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