Lidded incense burner (koro) in the form of a tripod vase on a tree root with attached peacock and peahen
Signed 'Dai Nippon, Koko Sei'
Patinated bronze inlaid with gilt bronze and other soft metal alloys
About 1877

This magnificent example of Japanese bronze casting was first exhibited at the 1878 Paris Universal Exposition by the Kiritsu Kosho Koisha (First Industrial Manufacturing Company) of Japan. Under the bowl of the burner (which is a greatly modified form of the ancient Chinese 'ding' bronze) is a cast seal which bears the art name, Koko, of Suzuki Chokichi. Chokichi was one of the most renowned Japanese metalworkers of the late nineteenth century.

The incense burner was purchased in 1883 from the Parisian-based dealer S. Bing for £1586 7s 2d, which was then a record amount of money paid for a single work of Japanese art. This sum, from the Museum's annual expenditure on works of art of just over £13,000, indicates the significance to the west of contemporary Japanese works at that time.