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“Moon Rabbit” Flower Basket, mid-1930s

Creator: Iizuka Rokansai
Offered by: Thomsen Gallery

Description
Iizuka R?kansai
“Moon Rabbit” Flower Basket, mid-1930s
Bamboo
Size 14¼ x 6¾ x 6¾ in. (36.4 x 16.9 x 16.9 cm)
T-2358

Leached timber bamboo, diagonal plaiting over vertical elements, twining, knotting, wrapping, hexagonal plaiting (base); faceted and lacquered bamboo otoshi (water holder)

Signed underneath R?kansai saku (Made by Rokansai)

Fitted wood tomobako storage box inscribed outside Hanakago (Flower Basket); inscribed inside Getto Rokansai saku (Moon Rabbit, made by Rokansai); seal: Rokansai

Getto, literally "Moon Rabbit," is an ancient Chinese term referring to the belief, celebrated in No drama, that the moon is inhabited by a rabbit who pounds rice cakes. As often with Rokansai’s titles, its relationship to this basket is tantalizingly unclear. The balanced, compact form, typical of the artist’s mature period, is emphasized by a slight narrowing where the neck is secured by a bamboo band tied in a bow. This is more often seen in Rokansai’s later hanging flower baskets but for similar examples of standard baskets in this form, see Tochigi Kenritsu Bijutsukan (Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts), Iizuka Rokansai ten (Iizuka Rokansai: Master of Modern Bamboo Crafts), exhibition catalogue, 1989, cat. no. 68 (p. 60) and Erik Thomsen Gallery, Masterpieces of Japanese Bamboo Art, New York, 2017, cat. no. 22.

More Information

Documentation:	Signed
Period:	1920-1949
Condition:	Good.
Styles / Movements:	Asian
Incollect Reference #:	695740

Dimensions

W.	6.65 in;	H.	14.33 in;	D.	6.65 in;
W.	16.9 cm;	H.	36.4 cm;	D.	16.9 cm;

Message from Seller:

Thomsen gallery, located in a townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, offers important Japanese paintings and works of art to collectors and museums worldwide. The gallery specializes in Japanese screens and scrolls; in early Japanese tea ceramics from the medieval through the Edo periods; in masterpieces of ikebana bamboo baskets; and in gold lacquer objects.