🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Need help identifying this antique Japanese cast iron teapot

[Yaroslav]

Looks very old, small size but heavy, only 4.5 inches long.

 

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[UnderMiner]

This is first and foremost a Buddhist themed object. Are you sure it's Japanese and not Chinese? The Yin and Yang symbol coupled with the pig makes me think this is Chinese, though the symbols can be from either culture as both adopted Buhddhist traditions and used their symbols in their art.

The pig may have been used as a representation of the Year of The Pig, perhapse when this piece was manufactured (but since this year repeats every 12 years it's impossible to say which year in our calendar it represents specifically).

The pig looking into the drink also reminds me of Zhu Bajie, a character from the widely popular 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West, he is a man who takes on the form of a pig due in part to his heavy drinking. It's probably not related but it reminds me of that. That story is centered on the Buddhist tradition as well.

 

[pepperj]

Was this pot dug up/or a purchase?

 

[GlowingArtist]

I am not yet convinced that it is çast iron, antique Japanese or Asian, Buddhist themed or even a teapot.

 

[Yaroslav]

Was this pot dug up/or a purchase?

I bought it.

 

[Yang Hao]

Below is an image of many items which look like the one uploaded by the OP. They are old images because they were for sale in the past and those pages are now deleted. Item titles included bronze from Ming dynasty, or wealth pot from Qing dynasty. Another said it was old but not from a dynasty. One of them was selling for 198RMB ($28USD). I did find one thread on a Chinese language antique forum. The OP asked if his item was real and a few people replied it was fake.