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Iwachu Hailstone tetsu kyusu (iron teapot)/choshi (sake warmer) Showa Era 1926-1989.

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Japanese Metalwork129 of 137Cast iron horses plate, JapanJapanese cast iron mouse/rat okimono
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    Posted 3 years ago

    kwqd
    (1119 items)

    This small Iwachu tetsu kyusu (cast iron teapot), not counting the spout and lid, is only 3" high x 6" diameter. It is marked pretty clearly on the bottom. It is lined in enamel, so that multiple types of tea may be brewed in it. As with pewter, if not lined, a pot should be devoted to only one type of tea. I have several un-lined pewter pots from my early tea experimentation days for this reason.

    These small pots are used only to accept heated water for brewing tea, not for heating water over a flame. This pot has never been used and is new but about 30 years old, pre 1990. Based on identifications of this maker's mark in a couple of on line auctions which included the original packing materials, this teapot was made by the Iwachu Foundry in Morioka City, located in Iwate Prefecture. Current production Iwachu has a different mark which consists of only the bottom four characters used on this pot. So far, I have found the upper four characters only on Showa era pots. Iwachu calls this design "Hailstone".

    These small, flat kyusu are also sometimes marketed as sake warmers, which are called choshi, but the handle configuration is different than that seen on traditional choshi. On the side of that identification, however, is the fact that this never used pot did not come with an infuser.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetsubin

    "Outside Japan, a frequently seen variant is a cast-iron teapot that outwardly resembles a tetsubin. This type of teapot is glazed with enamel on the inside to make it more practical for tea brewing, though it can't be used to heat water because that would break the enamel coating. In the west, these teapots are commonly referred to as tetsubin, although the Japanese call them "tetsu kyusu", or iron teapot, to make a distinction from the kettle. Cast-iron teapots often come with a tea strainer that fits inside."

    This is one other thing that I have been specifically looking for for my collection of Japanese metal ware. I have looked at a lot of different teapots but kept coming back to this one which is another piece from the collection of the professor who lived in Japan in the 1990s and sent things he liked back to the States. It is a bit unclear to me at this point if he did this to sell or to collect, or both, as most of the items were unique. There were only multiples of the fish okimono which I posted recently. He may have started collecting and then started selling his collection. At any rate, because of that I can roughly date this to no later than about 1990 and be certain that it is Japanese. There is a lot of Chinese cast iron masquerading as Japanese on the market and I am not experienced enough to differentiate between the two in many cases. Everything that came from this source has been Japanese and of very high quality, especially the tea ware, so I decided to play it safe and go with this one which I also like. During my research, I later found another example of this pot with a Mitsukoshi department store label which confirms my suspicions about the quality of this piece.

    Mitsukoshi LTD is a high end Japanese department store which was founded in 1673. Everything which I have found associated with this store is very high end, especially the tea ware. The seller of this pot, and five similarly marked cast iron cups, guesstimated it to be 1970s vintage:

    https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/290064-japanese-iwachu-cast-iron-tetsu-kyusu-t?in=user

    I added it to my pile as I will use it since it is already broken in and I wanted to get a close look at the cups. I suspect this set originally had a tomobako which has gone missing.

    My next mission is to find a nice tetsubin, or kettle, for heating water. That promises to be much more challenging and expensive.

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    Comments

    1. PhilDMorris PhilDMorris, 3 years ago
      Really neat item, one that surprises !~
    2. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thanks for your comment PhilDMorris! I am learning a lot about Japanese cast iron.

      Thanks for loving my teapot aura, Kevin, dav2no1 and PhilDMorris!
    3. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thank you Watchsearcher!
    4. racer4four racer4four, 3 years ago
      Tiny but perfect.
      I'm amazed at the enamel interior. Is that normal practise?
    5. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thanks Karen! I have found a couple of different stories about enameling. First is that it was introduced for markets outside of Japan in the 1990s to prevent tea from becoming bitter tasting. That goes against other sources which claim that tea brewed in non-enameled pots has health benefits and improves the taste of the tea. I have also read that only one type of tea should be used in a non-enameled pot or kettle as they are porous and absorb the flavor of the tea. Enameled pots don't absorb tea so long as they are rinsed out after each use, so multiple kinds of tea can be used in them. If not rinsed out, then an enameled pot can develop a "patina" from the tea limiting the pot to that tea. I read something similar about pewter pots so bought several of those for specific teas during my tea experimenting years, before I realized that I can't really taste tea due to the loss of my sense of smell..

      Maybe some of the more teapot knowledgeable CWers can chime in?

      https://topictea.com/blogs/tea-blog/everything-about-japanese-cast-iron-teapots-tetsubin

      https://senchateabar.com/blogs/blog/cast-iron-teapot

      https://drinks.seriouseats.com/2012/01/how-to-brew-tea-in-a-tetsubin-cast-iron-teapot.html

      Thanks for loving my teapot blunderbuss2 and Karen!
    6. racer4four racer4four, 3 years ago
      Thanks for the info Kevin. I'm not a tea drinker but I did wonder about the enamel.
    7. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thanks fortapache, Vynil33rpm, Jenni and ho2cultcha!
    8. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thanks for tee taking a look at my new teapot Thomas!
    9. Alfred1o1 Alfred1o1, 3 years ago
      HTD .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y56fnql0fc lol I like your tea pot. very different...
    10. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      @Alfred1o1 - Lol. Thanks for the link and comment!

      Thanks for loving my little teapot SEAN68 and Alfred1o1!
    11. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thanks for taking a look at my new/old teapot valentino97!
    12. mcheconi mcheconi, 3 years ago
      very elegant.
    13. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thanks for checking out my hobnail teapot mcheconi!
    14. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thanks Daisy1000!
    15. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thanks AnythingObscure! I bought the other teapot and cups in the link above to get a look at the mark on the cups, but in the mean time was able to decipher the maker's mark on this one and identify the maker. Probably going to put this one away in storage since it is new, but pretty old, and play with using the other one, since it is well broken in but not abused.
    16. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thanks for your comment and for loving my cast iron teapot Eileen!
    17. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thank you couldbe!
    18. Blueyecon Blueyecon, 1 year ago
      Hello, thank you for all for all of this information. Today I posted a show and tell of my tea pot. I would love if you could take a look at it and give me your opinion. Thanks in advance.

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