Chikubōsai I (1872 –1950)
Art Deco Karamono Basket
Item number: T-3276Size: H 22.7" x W 8.7" (57.7 x 22 cm)
Age: 1930s
Ikebana flower basket, bamboo and rattan
Signed: Chikubōsai kore tsukuru
»Chikubōsai made this«
This large and imposing bamboo ikebana flower basket has an ingenious geometry, starting out square on the bottom, flaring out on the sides, and ending up round on the top. The wide vertical strips on the four edges were made with old bamboo and add character to the body.
The bamboo strips forming the sides and bottom are arranged in the sensuji-gumi or kushime ami thousand-line construction. Arranged parallel, the strips are reinforced with thicker bands of bamboo strips on the inside. They are held together with fine rattan strips, which are plaited in mat and cross-stitch patterns. The sides are further reinforced with an unusual diamond-shaped pattern, which shows a strong art-deco influence.
The tall, elegantly curving handle is made of three bamboo branches; fine rattan strips plaited in beautiful patterns hold them together on the top and connect the ends to the basket body. The entire basket exterior was applied with a thin layer of natural lacquer, which has gained a warm patina over the decades.
The basket is signed on the bottom with an incised signature reading Chikubōsai kore tsukuru or »Chikubōsai made this«. It comes with a faceted and lacquered bamboo otoshi tube to hold water and flowers and with a fitted kiri-wood box.
Maeda Chikubōsai was one of the greatest bamboo artists of the early twentieth century. He became famous for having made presentation baskets for the Imperial family in the early 1920s. His son, Chikubōsai II (1917 – 2003), continued the tradition and was named a Living National Treasure for the bamboo crafts in 1995, a title he held until his death in 2003.
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