Kogo incense box / "Hagoïta Shôchikubaï" Seikanji

Please note, this item is a unique piece.

A Kyo-yaki ceramic Kogo incense box in the shape of a hagoita, decorated with a pine, bamboo, plum, and cloud motif, made by Shōhei Sugita IV (1942-) at the Seikanji kiln in Kyoto. The hagoita is a rectangular wooden paddle used to play the traditional Japanese game called hanetsuki: the game of trying to keep the shuttlecock, or hané, in the air for as long as possible, either by one person or by two people who take turns hitting it. In Japan, mosquitoes were believed to carry and cause various diseases, and dragonflies, which feed on mosquitoes, were considered beneficial insects that kept illness away from people. Thus, this game of hitting a shuttlecock, resembling dragonflies, became both a game and a kind of ritual to ward off evil spirits. The hagoita also became an object of good luck.