Rijksmuseum collection search

Scent-boxes, pomanders & incense containers

Iconclass 41C761 — scent-box
Search across type, subject,
description & semantic fields
The Iconclass notation 41C761 (scent-box) returns zero Rijksmuseum artworks when queried directly. However, searching across Dutch type vocabulary (reukdoos, reukbal, kogo, wierookdoos), subject labels (pomander, musk ball), description text, and semantic search reveals four distinct groups totalling over 40 objects — none of which carry the Iconclass scent-box notation at all.
01 Reukdoos — the sole direct match

The only work in the collection carrying the Iconclass subject label scent-box directly. Found via subject: scent-box and query: reukdoos.

02 Reukbal / Pomander — physical objects & depictions

Found via description: pomander and subject: pomander / musk ball (31A51451). Includes two physical pomanders typed as jewellery / reukbal, and four prints and a drawing where pomanders are depicted or designed.

Physical objects

Prints & drawings depicting pomanders (Iconclass 31A51451)

03 Kogo & wierookdoos — Japanese incense containers

Found via type: kogo, type: wierookdoos, and semantic search. 32 objects in total — predominantly 18th–19th century Japanese ceramics and lacquerwork, mostly from the Westendorp-Osieck bequest via the Koninklijke Vereniging van Vrienden der Aziatische Kunst. None carries Iconclass 41C761.

Figural & zoomorphic kogo (ceramic)

Lacquer incense boxes & kobako (15th–18th c.)

04 Lacquer incense cabinets & the incense game

Found via semantic search. These are Japanese export-quality lacquer objects for storing multiple incense types, distinct from the single-compartment kogo. The kodo game set involves identifying or associating scents with literary references.

Cataloguing note: None of the 40+ objects identified here carries the Iconclass notation 41C761 (scent-box). The Japanese ceramics are typed as kogo / wierookdoos; the European pomanders as jewellery / reukbal; the lacquer cabinets as lakdoos. The Iconclass notation applies only to the one Dutch silver scent-box (S1), reached via its subject label — not its type field. The notation 41C761 is therefore a near-useless retrieval handle for this material class in the Rijksmuseum system; object-type vocabulary is the correct entry point.