Maeda Chikubosai I (1872–1950)Showa era (1926-1989), 1929
A circular fruit basket of split susudake (smoked bamboo) woven in square plaiting with alternating double strips, and with twining, knotting and wrapping; the handle of bent whole stems of susudake finished with rattan knotting, with square copper liner, signed underneath Chikubosai kore o tsukuru (Chikubosai made this); with a wood tomobako storage box inscribed outside [...] Kudamonokago (Fruit Basket), dated and signed inside Showa yon tsuchinoto-mi tojitsu Chikubosai kore o tsukuru (Chikubosai made this in winter 1929) and sealed Chikubosai. 28.7cm x 39.5cm x 39.5cm (11¼in x 15½in x 15½in). (3).注脚One of the most important bamboo artists of the first half of the twentieth century, Maeda Chikubosai I trained with Tanabe Chikuunsai I—a founding father of basketry in Sakai City, Osaka—and began to exhibit widely from 1926. Chikubosai I had access to an abundant supply of susudake (smoked bamboo gathered from inside the roofs of ancient farmhouses), which he used frequently in his work.