Examples of Objects on Display

• 

  “GATE”

  TANABE Chikuunsai IV（1973 - ）

  2019
  Tiger bamboo (torachiku)
  ©T. MINAMOTO

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  Chinese-Style Flower Basket with Fish Ears

  TANABE Chikuunsai Ⅰ

  1922
  Height: 27.5cm
  The Abbey Collection, “Promised Gift of Diane and Arthur Abbey to The Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
  Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  

• 

  SQUARE VASE WITH TWO HANDLES

  Porcelain with tea dust glaze

  Qing dynasty, Qianlong mark and period (1736-1795)
  Jingdezhen ware　
  Height: 32.8 cm
  The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka (Gift of SUMITOMO Bank, Accession No.01010)

  This exhibition features a unique display which combines a bamboo work from the Abbey Collection with a ceramic work from our collection, through which the visitors can enjoy finding some connection or similarities between the two, such as their forms. For example, the flower basket with fish-shaped handles (above), which is a fine copy of a karamono or imported Chinese basket, and the double-handled porcelain square vase covered with tea dust glaze (below) were produced in different periods and made out of different materials but do have similar forms. Just as the form of the latter imitates that of an ancient bronze vessel, bamboo artists might also have been inspired by bronze, ceramic and lacquer wares and attempted to reproduce their texture while at the same time appreciated their differences. TANABE Chikuunsai I (1877-1937), who produced the above bamboo work, trained himself under Osaka bamboo artist WADA Waichisai I and is known for his Ryurikyo-style flower baskets, inspired by the painting of a flower basket by YANAGISAWA Kien (or Ryurikyo, 1704-1758, a Japanese literati painter), and works using koyadake or old bamboo arrow shafts.

• 

  Bowler Hat

  HAYAKAWA Shōkosai I

  ca. 1880s - 1890s
  Height: 13.7 cm
  The Abbey Collection, “Promised Gift of Diane and Arthur Abbey to The Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
  Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  

  Interacting with contemporary literati and tea masters, Osaka-based HAYAKAWA Shōkosai I (1815-1897) produced a large number of sencha (green tea prepared by infusing processed leaves in hot water) utensils. The prominent basket maker in Osaka, Shōkosai is said to be the first bamboo artist to sign his works. He also experimented with producing innovative forms of bamboo work using his knowledge and high level of skill for producing karamono (Chinese style) baskets. This work, one of the fruits of such experiments, is a western-style bowler hat woven with rattan. It is known that this hat was favored by the Meiji-era Kabuki actor ICHIKAWA Danjuro IX (1838-1903).

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  Flower Basket, “Woman (A Person)”

  NAGAKURA Ken’ichi

  2018
  Height: 182.0 cm
  The Abbey Collection, “Promised Gift of Diane and Arthur Abbey to The Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
  Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  

  Beginning with his first solo exhibition in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture in 1982, NAGAKURA Ken’ichi (1952-2018) presented his works in various solo and group exhibitions both at home and overseas. He created three-dimensional works displaying an organic sense in the liberal, innovative forms. Inspired by the prehistoric art forms and the works of twentieth-century Western sculptors as well as by nature, Nagakura’s sculptural works are marked by his dexterous use of the properties and texture of bamboo. In 2000, he became the first recipient of Cotsen Bamboo Prize, which ensured his fame to be indisputable. This work, having a graceful body, finely woven from thin strips of bamboo, and a bamboo node unassumingly appearing at the top, represents a slender figure of a woman.

• 

  Basket in the form of a Flower Cart

  KATŌ Tōshōsai

  ca. 1920s - 1930s
  Total length: 124.0 cm
  The Abbey Collection, “Promised Gift of Diane and Arthur Abbey to The Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
  Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  

• 

  Moon Flask-Shaped Flower Basket

  TANABE Chikuunsai II

  ca.1955-1965
  Height: 62.0 cm
  The Abbey Collection, “Promised Gift of Diane and Arthur Abbey to The Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
  Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  

• 

  “Delight for the Future”

  TANABE Chikuunsai III

  2008
  Height: 78.7 cm
  The Abbey Collection, “Promised Gift of Diane and Arthur Abbey to The Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
  Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  

• 

  Flower Basket

  IIZUKA Hōsai II

  ca.1910s
  Height: 41.9 cm
  The Abbey Collection, “Promised Gift of Diane and Arthur Abbey to The Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
  Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  

• 

  Flower Basket, “Holy Shrine”

  IIZUKA Rōkansai

  ca.1940s
  Height: 19.2 cm
  The Abbey Collection, “Promised Gift of Diane and Arthur Abbey to The Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
  Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  

• 

  “Flowing Pattern”

  HONMA Hideaki

  2014
  Height: 66.0 cm
  The Abbey Collection, “Promised Gift of Diane and Arthur Abbey to The Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
  Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.