Flower Basket with Handle for Hanging, “Gyoran (Fish Basket)”

吊花籃 魚籃
魚籃花籃
鱼篮花篮
어람화람(생선 바구니, 꽃 바구니)

Long, long ago, Sen no Rikyu likened a fish basket used by fishermen to a flower basket and applied it to the tea ceremony. Such simple and quiet taste was favored and many a fish basket likened to a flower basket was made, but what about this one? Although the motif may be a fish basket, it is stylish and reveals an overwhelming presence. The body is woven in sublime classical patterns such as seikai-ami (wave pattern) and matsuba-ami (pine needle pattern) and the rim and foot are intricately stitched in to-kagari, providing the work with a sense of substance. Decorating the rim are fish made from split moso bamboo and exquisitely carved to the details of the dorsal and pectoral fins. Between them are tiny rings woven from rattan so that if the basket sways, the fish make an airy jingling sound. It is the handle made from root bamboo and abundant in rustic beauty that tightens the overall reins. The artist Rokansai succeeded in incorporating images perceived from nature without forfeiting formality and sublimated bamboo craftwork to the stage of art.