With its beautiful dense grain, keyaki is the most expensive of Japanese woods. It is a sturdy, long-lasting hardwood requiring little maintenance. Pieces crafted from burled keyaki – wood taken from the knotty area near the trunk of the tree that is noted for its handsome, clustered grain that appears wavy or curly – are especially coveted. This wood is now so rare that typically only planed thin sheets of veneer are used instead of solid pieces.

Hibachi were finely crafted braziers used in old homes and shops to provide heat, warm sake and boil water for tea. Tree trunks were sometimes hollowed out and made into hibachi of various shapes. Craftsmen frequently sought out interesting shapes, often choosing the point just where the tree started spreading out its roots and going into the earth. Burl wood is a phenomenon that occurs in nature, and it is highly prized by connoisseurs. This hibachi’s shape is natural and irregular instead of the more ordinary near-round shape, and it represents consummate skill of the craftsman who created it. Smaller wooden hibachi such as this one were also used as personal guest hibachi, smoking hibachi or handwarmers.

This hibachi exemplifies the wabi-sabi aesthetic of Japanese art. “Wabi” connotes a rustic simplicity or understated elegance when applied man-made objects. It can also refer to quirks and anomalies arising from the process of construction which add uniqueness and elegance to the object. “Sabi” is beauty or serenity that comes with age, when the life of the object and its impermanence are evidenced in its patina and wear, or in any visible repairs.