Although the tanuki is a real animal that resembles both a badger and raccoon, it is the mythical and magical tanuki which plays such a prominent role in countless Japanese legends and tales. Such a tanuki possesses the mystical powers to transform itself into any living or inanimate shape, and this mischievous animal is deeply entrenched in Japanese minds.

“Bunbuku Chagama” is an old Japanese folktale with numerous variations which gained popularity in Japan during the Edo period when tanuki were the subject of many folk stories and every family had an iron kettle kept hot above the family hearth. In one version of the tale, a tanuki is helped by a poor man who saved its life, so the tanuki turns into a chagama to help the old man make money. The woodsman sells the kettle to a priest, who in turn orders his assistants to clean it and use it to make tea. The tanuki-kettle was unhappy with temple life -- it was polished and used on the fire, which really hurt. So it returns to the woodsman, and thereafter makes money for the "woodsman turned traveling entertainer" by dancing as a kettle on a tightrope. In another version, a priest tries to catch a tanuki to eat for dinner, but the tanuki escapes by transforming itself into a tea kettle. The priest carries the kettle back to the temple, but when placed on the fire, the kettle sprouts arms, legs, a nose, and ears, and soon resumes its true tanuki shape. Artistic manifestation of this tale is seen on Japanese scroll paintings and on Japanese iron tea kettles like this one.

The relief casting on this kettle is superb. The background design is composed of alternating panels. On the front and back, ancient Chinese seal script characters fill each side, overlapped by alternating panels with the purely Japanese design of “hanabishi,” a popular motif in which the petals of the “karahana” (China flower) create four-petal flower diamonds. There is a wavy relief cast border separating the four panels. Cast in higher relief atop the seal script characters are two large freely-rendered auspicious Kanji characters for the word “fuku” which means happiness or good fortune. The heavy cast bronze lid is topped with “tachibana” (mandarin orange) flower bud finial.

Tetsubin are cast iron water kettles which were popular in Japan as everyday household utensils and for informal and semi-formal tea drinking. During the 19th century, tetsubin made especially as tea utensils came to be highly esteemed. Fine ornamental tetsubin were preferred by the upper classes for the sencha style tea ceremony, which was less formal and proscribed than the “chanoyu” tea ceremony.

During the 18th century, a craze had developed in Japan for bunjin, the art and culture of the Chinese literati scholar/painter. One of their daily customs was the drinking of sencha. This custom was adopted by the growing class of Japanese Confucian scholars. The artistic situation in Kyoto around 1800 was influenced by the activities of these Japanese literati, and the sencha cult became one of their favorite pastimes. The interest in sencha soon spread from the bunjin-enthusiasts to the common people in Kyoto, especially to the rich merchants.

It was in the first decades of the 19th century that relief decoration on iron kettles first came into demand. Relief designs required the lost-wax technique of casting that was practiced by bronze-casters. It was within this cultural and artistic environment that the metal-caster Shikata Yasunosuke was making tetsubin in Kyoto. He had adopted the name of his father as his artist name and called himself Ryubundo. By using the lost-wax method, he was able to make relief decorated tea utensils in the style of the bunjin, which specifically suited the tastes of the sencha enthusiasts at that time. (For a more detailed history, see TETSUBIN by P.L.W. Arts.) This is a truly unique example of a Japanese tetsubin in Chinese taste, and it exemplifies an important historical link in the initial development of relief cast tea ceremony utensils in Japan. It would make a wonderful addition to any tetsubin collection.

The casting of this thick-walled tetsubin is very strongly rendered, and the incredibly bold cut-out and relief decoration exceeds one full inch (2.5 cm) in depth. Encircling the body of the kettle is a writhing dragon, with its body moving in and out of low relief cast waves and high relief cast stylized cloud forms. This sinewy dragon is cast in wonderful detail, illustrating the animal’s horns, whiskers, beard and claws as well as the individual scales on its body. Depending on the context, dragons are teamed with a variety of motifs in Japanese art. The most common design pairings are with stylized cloud or wave motifs, reflecting the animal’s association with both the sky and the oceans.

Tetsubin are cast iron water kettles which were popular in Japan as everyday household utensils and for informal and semi-formal tea drinking. During the second half of the 19th century, tetsubin made especially as tea utensils came to be highly esteemed. Fine ornamental tetsubin were preferred by the upper classes for the sencha style tea ceremony. Tetsubin can be classified according to their level of quality, separating those of higher technical quality and more decorative external features – the so-called “ornamental” kettles – from those of lower technical quality and less decorated ones. High relief ornamental tetsubin like this one are magnificent examples of Japanese ironwork which are very much sought after by collectors today. This is one of the finest examples of high relief ornamental tetsubin we have ever seen.

Oribe ware, a folk pottery produced in kilns located in Mino and Seto, is particularly Japanese in taste and was never made for export. Its bold and spontaneous designs and contours were generally asymmetrically executed in styles that were distinct, imaginative and vigorous. Oribe pottery derives its name from Furuta Oribe, a famous 16th century tea master. His influence over the pottery production of his day led to the development of a certain type of ware that was later named after him, nearly all relating in some way to the tea ceremony. He was a tea master who set the standard for tea ceremony ware and changed a utilitarian ceramic industry into one that was primarily concerned with pottery as works of art.

Tetsubin are cast iron water kettles which were popular in Japan as everyday household utensils and for informal and semi-formal tea drinking. During the second half of the 19th century, tetsubin made especially as tea utensils came to be highly esteemed. Fine ornamental tetsubin were preferred by the upper classes for the sencha style tea ceremony. Tetsubin can be classified according to their level of quality, separating those of higher technical quality and more decorative external features – the so-called “ornamental” kettles – from those of lower technical quality and less decorated ones. High relief ornamental tetsubin like this one are magnificent examples of Japanese ironwork which are very much sought after by collectors today.

The quality of the relief casting is superb. It is bold and strongly rendered, exceeding a quarter inch (5 mm) in depth in some places. The body of the kettle surrounding the smooth recessed panels is roughly textured, and the top edge is cast with random hollows and depressions. This edge reflects “intentional damage” cast specifically to add the appearance of great age and antiquity to the tetsubin.

A unique and most attractive feature is the high relief cast iron lid which is also profusely decorated with the same flowering blossoms and leaves. A gnarled branch is raised and curved to form the lid’s finial. The high arched iron handle has spots of silver inlay, including designs which look like dew drops and a pine needle. (A nearly identical example is illustrated in Figure No. 65 in TETSUBIN by P.L.W. Arts.)

Fine ornamental tetsubin of this type were preferred by the upper classes for the sencha style tea ceremony. A common characteristic of sencha kettles was that one side more heavily decorated than the other. In the sencha tea ceremony a tetsubin, held by the host in his right hand, is looked at by the guest with the spout pointing to the right. This is the side of the tetsubin which is usually more ornately decorated in order to enable the guest to admire the kettle’s “best” side. High relief ornamental tetsubin like this one are magnificent examples of Japanese ironwork which are very much sought after by collectors today.

Gold and silver inlays are a feature found only on tetsubin of superior quality, and fine ornamental tetsubin of this type were preferred by the upper classes for the sencha style tea ceremony. The paulownia leaf and flower, which is one of the most popular of all Japanese family crests (mon), bears a heavy load of legendary and historic significance. As an explicitly imperial mon, the paulownia ranks only slightly behind the chrysanthemum, and both are usually taken as the dual emblems of the Japanese throne. The stylized depiction of the leaves and blossom of the paulownia that adorn this vessel closely resembles the manner in which this tree is portrayed as a design motif and family crest rather than a realistic portrayal of the leaves and flower.

Tetsubin can be classified according to their level of quality, separating those of higher technical quality and more decorative external features – the so-called “ornamental” and “standard” kettles – from those of lower technical quality and less decorated ones – the so-called “rural” and “kitchen” kettles. Ornamental tetsubin like this one are wonderful examples of Japanese ironwork which are very much sought after by collectors today. A similar tetsubin was featured in the “Elegance in Iron” exhibit at the Morikami Museum and is illustrated in Figure 12 of the accompanying catalog.

Tetsubin were popular in Japan as everyday household utensils and for informal and semi-formal tea drinking. During the second half of the 19th century, tetsubin made especially as tea utensils came to be highly esteemed. They were often elaborately decorated with cast iron ornament or with inlays. Fine ornamental tetsubin of this type were preferred by the upper classes for the sencha style tea ceremony. Tetsubin can be classified according to their level of quality, separating those of higher technical quality and more decorative external features – the so-called “ornamental” kettles – from those of lower technical quality and less decorated ones. High relief ornamental tetsubin like this one are magnificent examples of Japanese ironwork which are very much sought after by collectors today.

The lotus (“hasu”) is a water flower that rises above large fan-shaped leaves, growing in still, shallow bodies of fresh water and mud. Buddhist traditions hold that the lotus is a sacred flower. In secular Chinese art, the lotus has many auspicious meanings, variously symbolizing harmony, love, sympathy and prosperity. Boxwood, the hardwood of choice for Japanese carvers, is usually carved into smaller items such as netsuke and okimono, so a boxwood carving in this size is quite unique and rare.