Karamono-Style Flower Basket (Hanakago)
Hayakawa Shōkosai I Japanese
Shōkosai is believed to be the first master basket craftsman to sign his name to his compositions. This would also have verified that his Chinese-inspired (karamono) works were made by a Japanese individual. He concentrated mainly on tea utensils, reflecting the needs of participants in the period’s thriving sencha tea culture. Of the varied bamboo works Moore collected, most were made in the Osaka-Kyoto region around 1870–90, in the Chinese style, and relate to the sencha tea tradition or ikebana flower arranging.
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