View publication (pdf file 6.5 mb) - Erik Thomsen

21Yamamoto Chikuryūsai 山 本 竹 龍 斎Boat-Shaped Wide Basket 船 形 広 籃Taishō Period (1912 – 26), dated 1916H 15 ¼" × L 20 ¾" × W 11¼"(38.5 cm × 52.5 cm × 28.5 cm)Ikebana flower basketMadake bamboo, Hōbichiku bambooand rattanIncised signature on the bottom:Chikuryūsai kore tsukuru »Chikuryūsai made this«Box inscription, outside:Funagata morikago »Boat-Shaped Wide Basket«Box inscription, inside: early spring, 1916 andsigned Chikuryūsai with a kakihan cipher.This exceptional ikebana basket is a fine exampleof the Chinese karamono-style, in which narrowbamboo strips are plaited symmetrically withgreat precision. Here the strips are plaited in thehexagonal muttsume pattern and supported bywider bamboo strips held together with rattan.The distinctive four-point handle is attached to thebody with rattan braiding, which covers the entiresurfaces of the handle in an elegant pattern.The basket comes with its original fitted tomobakobox which is lacquered on all surfaces, a sign of thehigh value Chikuryūsai placed on the basket anda treatment generally reserved for karamono-stylebaskets. The box bears the inscriptions, signature,date and cipher of Chikuryūsai.Chikuryūsai must have been very satisfied withthis boat-shaped basket, for when he was offeredthe opportunity to exhibit in Paris in 1925 at theJapanese art exhibition, he made a slightly longerbasket in the same shape and construction. Thisexhibition basket was illustrated in the 1925 catalogand won a silver prize. It is now in the collection ofthe Oita Prefectural Arts and Crafts Museum.80 81