Extraordinary Smoke Bamboo Basket with Wisteria Root Handle Meiji Period

An extraordinary Japanese bamboo flower basket (ikebana) with a bespoken sculptural handle dated to the late 19th century of Meiji Period. The upright and voluminous body of the basket is in the shape of a large mouth tsubo jar, historically made in one of six ancient kilns and used for storage. Woven entirely in smoked bamboo, also known as sooted bamboo (Susutake in Japanese), the technique used is a variation of patterned Mat Plaiting, in which the horizontal stripes were alternated at intervals to form a spiral down pattern. The more exposed outer stripes have been touched for years, and the soot was polished off, leaving a wonderful patina over the surface. Due to the large size of the construction, both the rim and the base were reinforced by thicker stripe bundles of timber bamboo. The handle was built from unusually large wisteria roots with natural characters of knobs, lumps and twists, resulting in a dramatic sculpture of its own right. Susutake was intentionally collected from kitchens of the old farmhouse, where years of cooking smoke resulted in the patinated surface that was much desired by some artists.
Standing two feet tall, this basket is oversized and was made with a commanding role as a center piece in mind. The choice of materials, the design and the execution accomplished a high degree of wabi-sabi spirit that is the essence of Japanese Mingei art. The basket is unsigned, but the work itself clearly indicates that it was from a hand of master.