Posted 4 years ago
kwqd
(1185 items)
This cast iron teapot warmer is about 4.5" in diameter x 2.5" high and weighs 1 lb 8 ounces. I bought this set for several reasons. First is the cast iron warmer as I didn't have one. It is not really striking or unusual but very well made and designed for its purpose, which is to hold a tealight candle for keeping a kyusu full of tea warm. I also wanted one as it will allow me to use it as a platform to elevate one of my large teapots on my display shelf so that I can wedge a smaller kyusu in front of it. I would never use one of these warmers as soot from the candle discolors the bottom of the kyusu and I suspect it could possibly generate enough heat to eventually damage the urushi (lacquer) lining of the kyusu. The warmer is not marked but is exactly like warmers marked Teavana and/or Iwachu, so I suspect that it was made by Iwachu.
The warmer came with the rust and gold colored Iwachu Arare (hobnail) kyusu in the first image. I paid about what the warmer alone sells for for both the warmer and teapot. Something else that decided me on this set is that the kyusu has what I have believed to be the old Showa (1926-1989) mark. This is perplexing as the set came with a Teavana brochure and that company was not founded until 1997. I will do a separate post for the kyusu. It is the same size as two Arare kyusu in my collection which have a traditional black urushi finishes and came with an infuser that I can use with all three pots. The seller found the used kyusu and warmer together but did not know their history so I do not know if only one or both were sold by Teavana. Teavana sold several brands of Japanese cast iron kyusu.
Thanks for your comment, Eileen! The kyusu that came with the warmer has black soot buildup from using the warmer with it, but luckily, the lining was not damaged. I have lots of things in storage that I would like to see every day. Some day I will pare things down to only the things that really thrill me.
Thanks couldbe, fortapache, aura, Eileen, jscott0363, Thomas and Jenni!
Thanks for taking a look at my kyusu warmer Karen, PhilDMorris, Kevin, dav2no1 and Watchsearcher!
I looked at my warmer again and it is exactly like this one. It has a paper sticker with a bar code and a price on it of $39.95 but I believe when I bought it from the reseller I paid $10.00 or $15.00. I really can't remember because it was about 4 years ago. Your collections are interesting and fun.
I was pretty sure it was Iwachu from what I could see of it, Blueyecon!