Lot 269: A bamboo flower basket Fine Japanese Art

By Iizuka Rokansai (1890-1958), Showa Period A flower basket of nemagaridake (dwarf bamboo) and rattan, the sides and mouth in ara-ami (coarse plaiting) andthe base in triangular plaiting, the rim and handle also of nemagaridake, the otoshi (water container) formed from a piece cut from a large stem of madake (timber bamboo) lined with copper, signed underneath in lightly engraved characters Rokansai saku (made by Rokansai); with wooden tomobako storage box inscribed Hanakago (Flower basket) and Rokansai saku (made by Rokansai).31.8cm (12½in) high. (3).

A native of Tochigi Prefecture and active in Tokyo, Rokansai sometimes used the dwarf bamboo varieties favoured by artists in the Kanto region. (1) In this case he added to the basket's deliberately rustic, informal look by leaving behind a tiny part of each side-shoot as he cut it from the main stem while preparing the bamboo. 1. Melissa M. Rinne, Masters of Bamboo: Artistic Lineage in the Lloyd Cotsen Japanese Basket Collection, San Francisco, 2007, p.64, no.138.