139 - † OMORI CHIKUYUSAI: A FINE BAMBOO HANAKAGO (FLOWER BASKET)

† OMORI CHIKUYUSAI: A FINE BAMBOO HANAKAGO (FLOWER BASKET) By Omori Chikuyusai (b. 1911), signed Chikuyusai Japan, c. 1960s, Showa period (1926-1989) Of elegant baluster form, the body broadening toward the lower section and tapering to a waisted neck beneath a gently flared circular mouth, finely woven from strips of susudake (smoked bamboo) predominantly in tightly controlled matsuba-ami (pine-needle plaiting). The lower body is encircled by a broad decorative band of ajiro-ami (twill plaiting) worked over gozame-ami (mat plaiting). The mouth and spreading circular foot are neatly reinforced with bound bamboo and rattan, all surmounted by a tall, slender arched handle similarly secured with fine bindings. Signed underneath CHIKUYUSAI. With a bamboo otoshi (water container). WIDTH 18 cm, HEIGHT 68 cm Provenance: Sotheby’s, Fine Japanese Art, 14 May 2019, London, lot 147 (sold for GBP 10,000 or approx. EUR 16,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). From a Japanese private collection, acquired from the above. Condition: Excellent condition with minor expected wear. Omori Chikuyusai (born 1911) was an associate member of the Nihon Kogeikai (Japan Art Crafts Association) and served as chairman of the Jokokai association. He lived and worked in Nagoya until 1971 and made bamboo baskets for tea masters, particularly for the Enshu School of Tea. Literature comparison: Compare a related bamboo and rattan Karamono utsushi hanakago (flower basket in Chinese style) by the same artist Omori Chikuyusai, dated 1963, 40 x 21 x 17 cm, illustrated in Japanese Bamboo Art: Tradition and Simple Form, Mingei Gallery, p. 47. 13% VAT will be added to the hammer price additional to the buyer's premium - only for buyers within the EU.