Kogo incense box / "Iroé Hamaguri" Seikanji

Kiyomizu-yaki ceramic "Kogo" incense box in the shape of a clam with a motif of cypress branches, turtle and crane, made by Shôhei Sugita (1942-) in the Seikanji kiln in Kyoto. Bivalves like the 'hamaguri' clam represent marital bliss, as they can only be combined exactly with matched shells. Moreover, as the old saying goes, 'a crane is made for a thousand years, a turtle for ten thousand years", cranes and turtles are symbols of longevity, and the fact that they are depicted together is considered a symbol of a couple living a harmonious old age.