FiddAsia Art and Co

BLOGTHE PIECE OF THE MONTH. (SEPTEMBER 2023). THE JAPANESE HIBACHI

THE PIECE OF THE MONTH. (SEPTEMBER 2023). THE JAPANESE HIBACHI

The hibachi (Japanese: 火鉢, fire bowl) is a traditional Japanese heating device.

It is a brazier which is either round, cylindrical, or box-shaped, open-topped container, made from or lined with a heatproof material and designed to hold burning charcoal.

It is believed hibachi date back to the Heian period (794 to 1185). It is filled with incombustible ash, and charcoal sits in the center of the ash.

To handle the charcoal, a pair of metal chopsticks called hibachi (火箸, fire chopsticks) is used, in a way similar to Western fire irons or tongs.

Hibachi were used for heating, not for cooking. It heats by radiation, and is too weak to warm a whole room, often disappointing foreigners who expected such power. Sometimes, people placed a tetsubin (鉄瓶, iron kettle) over the hibachi to boil water for tea. Later, by the 1900s, some cooking was also done over the hibachi.

HIBACHI
Keyaki wood
Early 20th century, Japan.
H. 35cm, W. 86cm, D. 73cm.
US $ 1,500.-
 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *