Featured Japanese .950 Inkwell as a Stove & Tea Kettle

1 7/8" x 1 1/8" footprint; kettle is ~7/8" diameter; it weighs ~1 1/2 oz total

The kettle is missing its bale, an' its lid doesn't come off. The wee hole at the near RH corner may be to allow the main body to be used as a water dropper, a suiteki, so perhaps the glass insert doesn't make it an inkwell. All 5 of the drawer pulls are loose, and swing.

It was well polished when I got it, 30 plus years ago...now not so much. One clue about its age is the 950 sterling mark...when was this correct in Japan? Not post-war, I think. Have any of you seen one like this, or similar? Thanks for lookin'!

 

Japan required decimal silver mark as early as 1928, and again as of 1954.

 

It's a hibachi. Very cute!

 

That's a little beauty Whit.

 

Very Pretty ..Thank for sharing.

 

On closer inspection - I don't think this is an inkwell. No inkwell would exist without a lid to stop the ink from drying out and getting dust in it.

 

the glass bowl is recessed , so a lid has room to fit over it..... possibly??

 

No. The recess is there to hold the teapot and grating in position (see photos). Not to hold any kind of lid, or cover.

Sorry, I don't buy the "inkwell" idea. Without an actual lid or cover to keep the dust and light out, and reduce evaporation, it couldn't be an inkwell.

That, and it seems singularly useless to have an inkwell which you'd have to lift the teapot off every single time you wanted to use it, and then remove the lid, as well (assuming there ever was one, which I doubt). Most inkwell lids are hinged for ease of access.

 

Hard to imagine a closer match...Thanks!

 

All good points! So it's still a bit of a puzzle, no?

 

I'm pretty fond of it, bosco...as I was so many years ago.

 

I can't think of what it would be. That glass cup is clearly there for a specific purpose, or they wouldn't have bothered with it...