This incense case has a design featuring various kinds of insects: a praying mantis, butterfly, bee, firefly, cricket, grasshopper and dragonfly. They are depicted in gold, green, ultramarine and black.
The creator, Kinkozan Sobei Ⅶ (1868-1927), was a notable potter as well as an entrepreneur who contributed to the promotion of the Kyoto ceramic industry. He was born in the Kinkozan family of potters in Awataguchi district, Kyoto. The family produced their own Kyo (Kyoto)-Satsuma pottery, which was based on Satsuma-like gold painted porcelains. Kinkozan Sobei Ⅶ further developed these wares and exported them to the overseas market.