An exquisite Uchidashi hand-forged and hammer shaped dish of Ocean-blue iron with silver rim by Takagi Jirobei of Nara enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Ginbuchi Tetsu Seikai-hachi. It is 23.5 cm (9-1/2 inches9 diameter and in excellent condition.
Together with his elder brother, the first generation Takagi Jirobei (1828–1885) apprenticed under Ōnishi Jōsetsu X of the Ōnishi family. The elder brother succeeded as Ōnishi Jōtoku XII and remained with the Ōnishi lineage as guardian to Ōnishi Jōchō XIII. The younger brother, however, separated from the Ōnishi family and in Ansei 2 (1855) established an independent workshop within the Sanjō Kama-za, adopting the name Takagi Jirobei as the founder of the Takagi line. Takagi Jirobei II (1861–1924) maintained close relations with the literati painter Tomioka Tessai, from whom he received the art name Tetsuken. He produced numerous kettles bearing inscriptions and paintings by Tessai as well as by Otagaki Rengetsu. At the time of the Taishō imperial accession, he created a commemorative kettle inscribed with the phrase “Mureisho” (無冷處) by Abbot Takeda Mokurai of Kennin-ji. Takagi Jirobei III (1881–1957) (Later known in retirement as Godō) produced tea kettles including daizu-style furo-gama and kaigu for a wide range of tea ceremony schools. The sixth generation of the family is still actively working today.
