DescriptionThis is a Japanese Ikebana bamboo by the artist Yufu Shōhaku, still living and one of the most famous bamboo artist in Japan. This basket is in the shape of an ancient bronze vessel and it features an exaggerated loop handle. The upper half of the basket was created in an auspicious repeating pine needle weave which would represent longevity. The cross hatched weave bordering along the hip delineates the upper and lower halves with lower half incorporating double layered split bamboo in its weave.The large handle was designed for both form and function allowing an Ikebana flower arrangement to be framed like a picture in a Tokonoma setting. The handle itself has wrapped bamboo at the points where they separate in two connecting to the basket through hollowed bamboo stalks giving the visual appearance of two large pine needles on each side. There is a stylized butterfly bamboo weave at the top of the handle. The bottom has four spiral woven bamboo feet and it is signed by Yufu Shōhaku. Born in Beppu, Oita Prefecture, Yufu Shōhaku studied under his father, the bamboo master Yufu Chikuryū (b. 1941).Age: Mid 20th centuryDimensions: 29 1/4″ high x 24″ wide
