Japanese arare design cast iron nabeshiki

This Japanese arare themed nabeshiki is 5.5" in diameter x .5" high and has no maker's mark. The hobnails are extremely well defined and very sharp. Attention has also been paid to the back which is very finely textured. The matching kyusu it came with was made by Roji and I think this nabeshiki is, too.

The only other example that I can find of this trivet is on an on line auction site that describes it as hand made and made to order. The new selling price is $93 and $25 shipping. The site does not name the maker or foundry but it is a distributor which sold my several Oitomi tetsu kyusu and that is my guess as to who made it. Just a guess, though.

The arare (hobnail) layout provides an optical illusion which makes it quite fascinating to spend time staring at a small, round piece of cast iron. It is probably fair to classify this as nanbu tekki cast iron. The hobnails are so sharp that they removed the finish from the bottom of the kyusu that it was partnered with, the reason that I only use cast iron nabeshiki with tetsu kyusu for display, not for every day use. I found a good source in Japan for a very cute and reasonably price nabeshiki made of traditional paulownia wood, the same wood used to make tomobako (wooden storage boxes).