Tea incense furnace - three-way plate

At a glance

- Cast iron, Yamagata imono (山形鋳物), METI-designated traditional craft
- By Hisanori Masuda of Chushin Kobo; sole craftsman, founded 1997
- Three-way plate system: use with loose tea leaves, incense blends, or cones over a small candle

This is a burner that asks you to slow down and choose. Tea leaves for a quiet morning. An incense blend for an evening with somewhere to be. A cone for when you want the fragrance to build slowly in the room.

The tea incense furnace is made by Hisanori Masuda of Chūshin Kōbō (鋳心ノ工房) in Yamagata Prefecture. Masuda is both founder and sole craftsman of the studio, which means every piece passes through one pair of hands from start to finish. Yamagata imono (山形鋳物) is a METI-designated traditional craft with roots in the Heian period; Masuda works within that tradition whilst designing for how people actually live today. The three-way plate system is the piece's defining feature: a shallow iron body holds a small candle, above which a removable perforated plate gently warms whatever is placed on it without burning it directly. Swap the plate configuration to suit the format you prefer. The heavy cast iron retains heat steadily and keeps the scent stable, whilst the compact, cauldron-like form sits naturally on a table or windowsill.

One candle is included.