生野祥雲斎造 七宝文煤竹網代編盛籃|Offering or Fruit Tray (Morikago) with Intersecting Circles Design

Shōno Shōunsai

ca. 1947 · Smoked timber bamboo and rattan · Asian Art

Shōno Shōunsai, born to a farming family in Beppu on the island of Kyūshū, decided at seventeen to become a bamboo craftsman after seeing an exquisite Chinese-style flower basket at a local exhibition. Chosen to make basketry pieces for the Imperial Household, Shōunsai began participating in the major government-sponsored exhibitions in the 1940s, winning several awards and becoming one of the leading bamboo artists of the postwar period. This fruit or offering tray is made of smoked timber bamboo (susudake). The center plate of the four-lobe tray, which was likely shown at the 1947 Nitten exhibition, is twill plaited (ajiro-ami), while the curving walls of line construction are decorated with rattan accents.

Artist

Shōno Shōunsai

Date

ca. 1947

Medium

Smoked timber bamboo and rattan

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Gift of Diane Abbey, 2019