The Kura - Japanese Art Treasures

Robert Mangold has been working with Japanese antiques since 1995 with an emphasis on ceramics, Paintings, Armour and Buddhist furniture.

Superb Porcelain Koro Incense Burner, Oxherding


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Directory: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Japanese: Porcelain: Pre 1900: Item # 1487733
The Kura
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23 Murasakino Monzen-cho
Kita-ward Kyoto 603-8216
tel.81-75-201-3497
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 sold, thank you 
sold, thank you

A fabulous porcelain incense burner in the shape of a boy playing the flute astride a large ox dating from the 19th century. The box identifies the work as Hirado ware. The quality is certainly of that level. It is 23.5 x 12 x 19 and is in perfect condition, enclosed in a period red-lacquered wooden box.
In Zen, an oxherd searching for his lost ox has served as a parable for a practitioner’s pursuit of enlightenment since this Buddhist sect’s early history in China. In the eleventh century, the Song-dynasty Zen master Guoan Shiyuan codified the parable into ten verses. The parable proceeds from the herd boy losing his ox and following its tracks to recover the animal to transcending this world. This piece represents the sixth step in enlightenment, riding the bull home. This is the point where one has attained understanding. The ancient verse associated with this image reads:
Mounting the bull, slowly
I return homeward.
The voice of my flute intones
through the evening.
Measuring with hand-beats
the pulsating harmony,
I direct the endless rhythm.
Whoever hears this melody
will join me.