Posted 7 years ago
IndianArtL…
(2 items)
This is a metallic article and the handle is attached to the lid. It is heavier and it can be an essence burner, but not sure. There is no handle attached to the vessel. If it is an essence burner , it can not be carried with the fire inside.
You don't give any measurements, like many others asking "What could it be?", and of course that makes it harder when we can't tell whether the object's size makes sense (for example) on a kitchen counter, on a dressing table, or out in the garden.
If you yourself think 'essence burner', then I'm assuming you mean it's small.
The gourd-shaped and fanned openings, and the leaf and twig decorations on the surface make me think Japanese. With a wooden handle could it be a portable coal pan-type of heater? (You put hot coal in it from your brazier and you take it to your corner of the tatami room ;). Does its size make sense for such use?
Or maybe the hot coal inside heats the lid, and then the handled lid is used to warm the sleeping roll, like a bed warmer.
It is Japanese.
I bought mine years ago as a Japanese incense burner. They come up on E-Bay a lot.