A vintage Japanese Nambu cast iron ashtray with a miniature "tetsubin" kettle.  The ashtray is suitable as a DIY built-in unit for a thick piece of wood or wooden furniture, in addition to its ordinary use as a stand-alone table-top unit.  Miniature testsubin kettles are mostly used as ornaments, if not as paperweights, in recent years but have historically been used as water pourers to extinguish cigarettes in ashtrays or to dilute ink in Japanese calligraphy.

Nambu Ironware (or Nambu tekki in Japanese) is a form of metalwork produced in Iwate Prefecture. It is a traditional craft that was first created in the middle of the Edo period (1603-1868). The name "Nambu Ironware" comes from the fact that it was first produced in the Nambu domain during the Edo period.

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