Edo Period Jizai Kagi

A Japanese Kettle Hook, known as a Jizai Kagi, beautifully crafted from wrought iron and carved hardwood. 145cm x 38cm (57 x 15 inches). Edo period, circa 1840 or earlier.

An exceptional example in both quality and condition. Many Jizai Kagi were hung with ropes and it is more common now to find only the wooden element. Further, the chains and hook demonstrate a very rare quality and high artistic merit. 

A perfect illustration of Japanese folk art, the Jizai Kagi was an artistic centrepiece for Japanese homes from the 17th century onwards. Suspended over a sunken floor hearth (irori), it was used to hang and adjust the height of cast-iron kettles or pots. The heavy chain loops through the carved fish (yokogi) which acts as an adjuster. The weight of the pot locks the adjuster in place. Tilting the yokogi releases the tension, allowing the pot to be smoothly raised or lowered.

This piece exemplifies what would later be celebrated by the Mingei and Arts & Crafts movements: the beauty and craftsmanship inherent in everyday objects in the face of a world of mass production. Though far removed from the rarefied objects being produced for the Samurai classes, this common kettle hook showcases tremendous skill in ironwork and an innate understanding of artistic balance and aesthetics.

There is a wonderful tactility and weightiness to every element. The craftsman’s presence is tangible, every blow of the hammer and every stroke of the chisel is visible. 120 hand forged, 3cm square links form the central chain. The end hook is wrought from a strip of iron 3.5cm wide and almost 1cm thick yet the form of it feels extremely graceful and carefully considered. The heavy, blocky, fish shape (38cm wide), is common to the Edo period and has a deeply layered, blackened patina and complex texture, a result of decades of exposure to smoke from the open irori hearth.

Condition: No faults or losses. Functional and intact. Heavy patina to both iron and wood. See images. Lots more images available here, or email for high res image files.

Provenance: from the collection of Robert L Stolper of Stolper Galleries, and thence by descent. Robert worked with Asian and African art from the 1940s onwards in Amsterdam, Munich, New York and the UK.

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