Moon Flask–Shaped Flower Basket (Henko-gata hanakago)

Tanabe Chikuunsai II Japanese

Not on view

Tanabe Chikuunsai II excelled in light openwork, thousand-line construction, and sophisticated coarse-weave works of smoked bamboo. This unusual flower basket (following his father’s similar composition) was inspired by Chinese moon flasks, a type of porcelain vessel produced beginning in the fifteenth century. The basket’s flattened circular body has a narrow, cylindrical neck, a flat base, and two arched side handles. The front and back of the body were made with circular plaiting, resulting in a bull’s-eye pattern typically seen on a basket’s base.

Moon Flask–Shaped Flower Basket (Henko-gata hanakago), Tanabe Chikuunsai II (Japanese, 1910–2000), Smoked bamboo and rattan, Japan

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Moon Flask–Shaped Flower Basket (Henko-gata hanakago), Tanabe Chikuunsai II (Japanese, 1910–2000), Smoked bamboo and rattan, Japan
Moon Flask–Shaped Flower Basket (Henko-gata hanakago), Tanabe Chikuunsai II (Japanese, 1910–2000), Smoked bamboo and rattan, Japan

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