Sand Iron Sliver Ashiya Dragon Round Kettle

Metalwork

Craft Company: Seikodo

ORIGIN: Yamagata Prefecture
SIZE: W200 × H220 × D175mm
MATERIAL: Iron, silver

Embracing everyday wellness

Sand Iron, with its fine molecules, is a very hard material. This “Sand Iron Silver Ashiya Dragon Round Kettle,” cast of sand iron using a wax mold, is an iron kettle crafted by the skilled artisans of Seikodo, who have been producing Yamagata castings since the Edo period (1603-1868). Carefully finished through a series of over 60 steps, the kettle features an imposing design of a climbing dragon, giving it a dignified elegance.

Water boiled in a cast-iron kettle has a smooth, mellow taste and is said to supplement the iron that is often lacking in modern diets. Indeed, this is a fine item that we should incorporate into our everyday lives.

Related Contents

RESOURCE

Yamagata casting
- Generic term
Yamagata-style casting is said to have originated when artisans migrated to riverside lands in Yamagata during the late Heian period (794-1185), as the local sand and soil composition proved suitable for casting molds. Its distinctive features include a thin and delicate cast surface, as well as precise shapes and dimensions. In many cases, each workshop handles all manufacturing processes, from production to sales, without adopting a division of labor for specialized tasks.
Ro-gata chuzo (Wax casting)
- Technique
A metal casting technique that makes use of the special properties of wax. It has been widely used in Japan since the Asuka period (592 – 710). A wax mold is made by boiling beeswax or Japan wax together with pine resin and then wrapping it in clay and baking it at high temperature to create a mold. The heat melts the wax of the original mold, which then flows out (known as “dewaxing”), and the molten metal is poured in. After the metal has cooled, the mold is broken and dismantled, allowing the casting to be removed.
Chukin (Metal casting)
- Generic term
- Technique
A technique to make metalworks by pouring molten metal into a mold, or igata in Japanese and extracting it after it is cooled. The technique makes it possible to form metal freely, which otherwise is a difficult material to process. A product made by this casting method is called imono. This method also allows for mass production. Once the mold of a prototype is made it is then possible to make multiples of the product.

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