Takaoka Copperware Incense Burner, Shishi Lid and, Chokin Metal Engraving

Takaoka Copperware Incense Burner, Shishi Lid and Chokin Metal Engraving

This flat, rounded incense burner is topped with a shishi (lion-dog guardian) finial on its lid, a motif long used in Japanese decorative arts to ward off misfortune and protect the home. The lid and body are further decorated with cranes (tsuru), a symbol of longevity and good fortune, rendered either through fine chokin metal engraving or through the layered surface coloring known as furude-iro ("old hand color"), which gives the bronze an aged, antique appearance.

Each burner is a piece of Takaoka copperware (Takaoka Doki), the metal casting tradition of Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, which has been practiced for over 400 years since the early Edo period. The cranes and shishi motifs are achieved through chokin, a traditional hand-engraving technique in which fine lines and patterns are chiseled directly into the cast bronze surface, and through hand-applied surface coloring that develops the burner's distinctive antique or burnished-bronze tone. Two of the finishes in this line are the work of Takaoka artisan Yoshihide Nohsaku.

Design Variations

• Chokin engraving — double-crane motif finished with fine hand engraving (10.5cm dia. x 12.8cm h)
• Old hand color 1 — an antiqued bronze finish without additional engraving (10.5cm dia. x 14.5cm h)
• Old hand color 2 — crane motif in antiqued bronze, by artisan Yoshihide Nohsaku (10.5cm dia. x 12.8cm h)
• Burnt bronze color — pine and crane (shochiku) motif in a deep burnished-bronze finish, by artisan Yoshihide Nohsaku (10.5cm dia. x 12.8cm h)

How to Use

Place a layer of incense ash in the body of the burner, then set a lit incense cone, stick, or piece of charcoal into the ash. The burner is designed for use with an ash bed rather than for burning directly on the metal surface. Always use on a heat-safe surface and keep away from flammable materials while in use.

Product Details

• Material: Cast bronze (all finishes)
• Size: Chokin engraving / Old hand color 2 / Burnt bronze color: 10.5cm diameter x 12.8cm height (4.13 x 5.04in); Old hand color 1: 10.5cm diameter x 14.5cm height (4.13 x 5.71in)
• Includes: Paulownia wood gift box