Plum branch themed tetsu kyusu by Oitomi

This plum blossom/branch themed tetsu kyusu (iron teapot) is 2.5" (6.25 cm) high x 5.5" (14 cm) in diameter, weighs 2.3 lbs (1 kg) and holds exactly 16 ounces (.5 L) of water. The urushi coating has a green tint. It is UNMARKED! Luckily, I was able to spot it on the Boonie Hicks Oitomi page. It is in the upper right corner of the seventh image on this page, the first image which shows ten various kyusu made by Oitomi.

https://www.booniehicks.com/oitomi-cast-iron/

This is an example of another of the traditionally themed tetsu kyusu that I have been looking for. The Plum blossom/branch theme seems to be more commonly found on testsubin (cast iron kettles) than on tetsu kyusu. At least that has been my experience.

Recently, I have done a couple of posts which focused on supposedly unmarked and oddly marked tetsu kyusu. The first was described as unmarked and images of the the second pot suggested a very oddly positioned mark in one of the two areas where tetsu kyusu are commonly marked. Tetsu Kyusu are typically marked under the spout, or to the right of the spout when facing the pot. Of course the "unmarked" pot was indeed marked, after all, and the pot with oddly positioned mark was in the expected area just not centered.

I mentioned in my recent posts that I had never seen a high quality pot which was unmarked, but now I have. This one. From the seller's very comprehensive images, I could not spot a mark. It was only $10.50 USD, so worth taking a chance on since it might have proved to be non-Japanese, though I suspected it was.

In image #4, I show the two areas where Japanese tetsu kyusu are typically marked in addition to the bottom. I seldom see Japanese pots marked on the bottom, but it is not uncommon to see Chinese pots marked that way. Chinese marks often include three small rectangles arranged in a triangle at one end of the character string.

Upon receiving it, I determined that it is Japanese made, has a Japanese infuser and I found one other example that was described as "From Iwate and Made in Japan". It is a very fine casting, though no doubt made with green sand casting. Green sand castings are used to mass produce cast iron items, so not an artist piece, but very nice anyway. The interior and exterior finishes were probably done by hand as was any finishing to the casting. It is only by luck that I later spotted it on the Boonie Hicks web site. It appears to be very lightly used, perhaps another paperweight.

So not disappointed, but now have to deal with the wild card of unmarked Japanese tetsu kyusu from well known foundries. Sigh.