Ashiya Tea Ceremony Kettle with Beach Pines Design

  • Ashiya, Fukuoka pref.
  • Muromachi period
  • 16c
  • Cast iron
  • H-21.9 D-30
Catalogue Entry

The designation “Ashiya kettle" refers to kettles made from the end of the Kamakura period through the Tensho era (1573‐92) of the Azuchi‐momoyama period in Ashiya, Fukuoka prefecture (near present‐day Ashiya‐cho, at the mouth of the Ongagawa. This kettle has a pattern of beach pines which is one of the typical forms of decoration on Muromachi period kettles, and here the kantsuki holes for fitting handles to the kettle appear have relatively strong demon mask forms which indicate a careful continuation of older styles. The most important example of a kettle with beach pine motif is a work designated an Important Cultural Property and now in the Tokyo National Museum. The Miho kettle has a slightly weaker rendition of the pine beach motif and can be suggested to bear a date somewhat later than that of the Tokyo National Museum kettle.