The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Incense Guessing Game

Incense Guessing Game

1615–1868
Overall: 23 x 25.4 x 16.6 cm (9 1/16 x 10 x 6 9/16 in.)
Location: not on view

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.
  • Count Matsudaira
    ?–1921
    George Trumbull Ladd [1842–1921], New Haven, CT, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1921–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • 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. Mentioned: pp. 79, 80 www.jstor.org
    “Accessions.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 8, no. 5, 1921, pp. 84–85. Mentioned; p. 84 www.jstor.org
  • Arts of Japan from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Mansfield Art Center, Mansfield, OH (organizer) (March 25-April 22, 1979).
    In the Nature of Materials, Japanese Decorative Arts. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 18-February 20, 1977).
  • {{cite web|title=Incense Guessing Game|url=false|author=|year=1615–1868|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1921.405