Morikago or tray style basket for the display of seasonal fruit and leaves, woven of split smoked bamboo, stained rattan, the handle of bent branch bamboo. Signed on the reverse with an incised signature by the artist: Waichisai Saku or Made by Waichisai (Wada Waichisai II, 1877 – 1933). Late Taisho – early Showa era, circa 1920 – 1930.

With the tomobako or original box, inscribed on the exterior of the lid: Morikago or Tray Basket for Seasonal Fruit; and on the reverse of the lid titled: Mei Hata no Su or Titled Dove’s Nest, and with the address of the artist’s studio: Seisetsu Fu-u Jo-shi or Western Settsu (Province), Fu-u Jo-shi district (now Suma-no-ura), and signed: Waichisai, and sealed.

Wada Waichisai II was the second master in a generational family of Osaka bamboo artists. His father exhibited widely and was one of the foremost literati-style basket weavers of the late 19th century. Waichisai II’s work often conveys an elegant informality in which abstract plaiting plays against the color and or natural form of the bamboo.

Waichisai shapes an irregular, circular form for this morikago, rippling the rim and balancing the asymmetrical form with a strongly bent handle section of branch bamboo. Using smoked bamboo of unusually rich, dark purple brown coloration, he plaits the body with doubled stays. By pairing the split bamboo back to back so that the satin skin shows outward, the basket glows whether viewed from above or below, on the interior or the exterior. The irregular weaving catches light from multiple angles, enriching the texture and focusing attention on the beautiful color of the bamboo. Split and dyed rattan anchors the handle sections with ornamental lines of insect wrapping (mushi-maki), cross knots (juji-musubi) and large spiral cross knots (juji-uzumaki-musubi).

For other examples of his work, c.f. Masters of Bamboo, page 109, number 67; and Kagedo’s catalogue Blue Wind, number 28.