Arrow-shaft bamboo, susudake (smoked bamboo), rattan, and lacquer; chrysanthemum plaiting, nawame-ami (twining) over verticals and yotsume-ami (square plaiting), wrapping, knotting Signed on the base Chikuunsai kore o tsukuru (Chikuunsai made...
Arrow-shaft bamboo, susudake (smoked bamboo), rattan, and lacquer; chrysanthemum plaiting, nawame-ami (twining) over verticals and yotsume-ami (square plaiting), wrapping, knotting
Signed on the base Chikuunsai kore o tsukuru (Chikuunsai made this)
Comes with its original fitted paulownia-wood tomobako storage box inscribed outside Yadake sanshugata hanakago (Flower Basket with Bamboo Arrow Shafts, in the Form of an Abacus Bead); inscribed and signed inside Tekisuikyo Chikuunsai tsukuru (Made by Tekisuikyo Chikuunsai); seals: Denri no in (Seal of Denri), Chikuunsai
Chikuunsai II often incorporated bamboo arrow shafts in his flower baskets. This example is based on an unusual shape that had been pioneered by Hayakawa Shōkosai (1815–1897), the founding father of artistic basketry in Japan’s Kansai region. Chikuunsai II deployed a range of plaiting techniques, demonstrating the breadth of his experimentation before he finally settled on the openwork uroko-ami style for which he is best known today.