id: 103349
accession number: 1921.405
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1921.405
updated: 2023-03-20 10:12:05.153000
Incense Guessing Game, 1615–1868. Japan, Edo period (1615-1868). Lacquer; overall: 23 x 25.4 x 16.6 cm (9 1/16 x 10 x 6 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of George Trumbull Ladd 1921.405
title: Incense Guessing Game
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 1615–1868
creation date earliest: 1615
creation date latest: 1868
current location:
creditline: Gift of George Trumbull Ladd
copyright:
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culture: Japan, Edo period (1615-1868)
technique: lacquer
department: Japanese Art
collection: Japanese Art
type: Lacquer
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
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measurements: Overall: 23 x 25.4 x 16.6 cm (9 1/16 x 10 x 6 9/16 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: In the Nature of Materials, Japanese Decorative Arts
opening date: 1977-01-18T05:00:00
In the Nature of Materials, Japanese Decorative Arts. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 18-February 20, 1977).
title: Arts of Japan from the Cleveland Museum of Art
opening date: 1979-03-25T05:00:00
Arts of Japan from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Mansfield Art Center, Mansfield, OH (organizer) (March 25-April 22, 1979).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* Japanese Art. Mansfield Art Center, Mansfield, OH (1979).
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PROVENANCE
Count Matsudaira
date:
footnotes:
citations:
George Trumbull Ladd [1842-1921], New Haven, CT, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
date: ?-1921
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1921-
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
A popular pastime in the Edo period was a game in which a group of players passed around incense and guessed its name or scent; boxes or cabinets containing all the tools necessary for the game were often part of a woman’s wedding trousseau. Small pieces of incense would be placed on thin mica plates and heated over hot ash, releasing their aroma for the players to smell as they were passed around. Players then cast their guesses with playing pieces. The game master kept score with the writing set. This game is handsomely decorated with images of deer in an autumn setting. The blue and white porcelain containers in which the incense was passed feature designs of foreigners.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
MacLean, J. Arthur. “Recent Gift of George Trumbull Ladd.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 8, no. 5, 1921, pp. 79–80, 87.
page number: Mentioned: pp. 79, 80
url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25136483
“Accessions.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 8, no. 5, 1921, pp. 84–85.
page number: Mentioned; p. 84
url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25136489
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1921.405/1921.405_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1921.405/1921.405_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1921.405/1921.405_full.tif