Teepannu - Valurauta - Nanbu Cast Iron Tetsubin

A Japanese Nanbu cast iron kettle (tetsubin) decorated in relief with pine branches and needles, with a matching iron lid surmounted by a pine cone finial and an arched carrying handle.

Pine (matsu) is one of the "Three Friends of Winter" in Japanese art, a symbol of endurance and longevity, and among the most traditional motifs for tetsubin. Here the branches wrap continuously around the body, the needle clusters cast in fine radiating detail, the pine cone finial on the lid echoing the same theme. The surface carries the granular sand-cast texture characteristic of the Nanbu tradition, and the base shows the concentric turning rings left by the casting process.

Nanbu tekki is the cast iron ware of Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan, produced there since the seventeenth century and still the country's most highly regarded ironwork tradition. This kettle is of Nanbu manufacture, but it carries no foundry mark, seal or signature anywhere on the body or base, so the individual workshop cannot be identified and I make no attribution to one.

VESITESTATTU
I have filled and stood this kettle and it holds water without seeping or leaking. The lid is original to the piece and seats correctly. The handle is intact and pivots freely.

KUNTO
Soldas havaittuina ikäisinä. Interior shows scattered rust spotting and an aged oxide surface, photographed in detail. There is light surface rust at the base and around the handle mounts, and some pitting and casting irregularity throughout, all consistent with a working kettle of this age. No cracks, no repairs, no missing parts.

The interior has not been descaled or restored, and I have left it exactly as found rather than cleaning it. A buyer intending to use the kettle for boiling water should season it in the traditional way first; otherwise it stands very well as a decorative object. Please study the photographs, which form part of the description.

MITAT
Height including handle: 22 cm
Height to lid: 14 cm
Mouth diameter: 10 cm
Capacity: approx. 2.0 L
Weight: 2.8 kg

LÄHETYS
Shipped from Japan. The lid is wrapped and packed separately, the body immobilised in a double-walled carton, fully tracked and insured. Please note the shipping weight — this is a solid cast iron object of 2.8 kg.