Koro or incense burner in the form of a stylized recumbent fox, of cast bronze, the cover and collar finely inlaid in silver. Dated and signed with a chiseled signature on the reverse by the artist: Showa Hinoto-i Chushu, Kaishu Takahashi Isamu Saku or Showa Year of the Boar (1947), Mid Autumn, Made by Kaishu Takahashi Isamu (Takahashi Kaishu, the go or art name of Takahashi Isamu, born Meiji 38 or 1905). Showa 22 or 1947.

With the tomobako or original box, inscribed on the exterior of the lid: Kaga Zogan Zuishin Koro or Kaga Inlaid Incense Burner (Titled) Joyful God; and signed: Kaishu Takahashi Isamu Saku or Made by Kaishu Takahashi Isamu, and sealed: Takahashi Kinsei or Finely Made by Takahashi, and: Takahashi.

Takahashi Kaishu was born in Kanazawa, and graduated from the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1929. In the same year he was accepted into the Teiten. In 1930 Kaishu exhibited in Belgium at the World Exposition and received an award, also winning a gold medal in 1933 at the Chicago International Exposition. After the War, Takahashi Kaishu continued to exhibit widely. In 1982 he was designated an Important Intangible Cultural Asset for Ishikawa Prefecture.

One of the most prominent artists to continue working in the Kaga metalworking tradition, Takahashi Kaishu specialized in bronze casting and soft metal inlay. His modernist adaptations of traditional techniques are widely collected. For another of his pieces in the collection of the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum, c.f. The Art of Ishikawa, plate 288.

This sculptural incense burner was made for exhibition at the third Nitten in Showa 22 or 1947, and is illustrated in the Nittenshi, volume 16, page 271, number 212. Enclosed in the box is the original exhibition label, along with a letter from the artist. In the letter Takahashi Kaishu laments that the Japanese people became selfish and ceased thinking of the world of the gods. Confused from the depths of defeat, he urges them to abandon these thoughts and turn to the world of nature and so recover their essential dignity.

In his art, Takahashi Kaishu found an answer to the confusion and disaster of the war. This image of a divine fox glows with nobility and calm, the confidence of peace.