Minneapolis Institute of Art

Chinese-style flower basket

Morita Chikuami

Date

late 19th century

Medium

Bamboo, lacquer, copper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Working out of a shop in Kyoto, established by his family in 1819 and still open for business today, Morita Chikuami specialized in creating bamboo baskets for a type of Japanese tea ceremony called sencha. Sencha emerged in Japan in the 1700s, based on contemporary Chinese practices, and was especially popular among the cultural elites of urban Japan. A key component of sencha decoration is flower arrangements, which often utilize bamboo flower baskets like this one. Symmetrical, with an abundance of meticulous decorative detailing, it reflects an age-old Chinese tradition of bamboo basketry that is in stark contrast to the freer forms characteristic of Japanese-style baskets. Asia

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