Hayakawa Shōkosai III (1864-1922)
Open Work Free-style Bamboo Basket
| Inv. Nr. | #21.025 |
| Date | Late Meiji period, dated: Spring 1912 |
| Material | Bamboo, dyed with plum extract |
| Dimensions | H 42,6 x Diam. circa 26,0 cm |
Comes with fitted, signed and sealed wooden box.
Price: EUR 26,000
An impressive, large open work freestyle bamboo basket made by Hayakawa Shōkosai III. The Hayakawa family is regarded as the founding fathers of modern bamboo art in Japan, since Hayakawa Shōkosai I (1815-1897) is said to be the first one who started to sign his works in 1856. His fifth son, Shōkosai III, followed the footsteps of succeeding the family business due to the premature death of his elder brother, Shōkosai II, in 1905. Specialists agree that he possibly played the most important role in "broadening the expressive capabilities of bamboo and departed much further than his father from Chinese models." (Earle 2018, 17) With his flexible organic style he exerted an immense influence on later bamboo art.
Two similar baskets have been published in Joe Earle: Baskets. Masterpieces of Japanese Bamboo Art 1850-2015, John Adamson Dist A/C (2018), pp. 88-91.
Signed underneath: Sansei Shōkosai tsukuru ("Made by Shōkosai III") and dated inside the lid of the box: Mizunoene chūshun ("2nd month [of the lunar calendar], 1912").