https://emuseum.cornell.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/94623/fullTall, rectangular basket17 1/2 × 5 × 5 1/4 inches (44.5 × 12.7 × 13.3 cm)BambooBequest of Ritalou Rogow Harris, Class of 1957, and Robert O. Harris2012.015.0160Tall square basket of very fine dark brown strips woven in a hexagonal plait. The basket is raised on a coin design foot with wrapped rattan edge. The square rim is tightly wrapped with a four part curved handle woven together at the top and attached to the rim with insect stitches and compound knots. Accompanied by a tomobako or kiri wood storage box.Decorative Arts20394945341Tanabe Chikuunsai IIDuring the Meiji period (1868-1912), Japan modernized and began to adopt Western concepts of art and craft, prompting those at the forefront of basketry to assert themselves as individual, creative artists, and to establish lineages in the tradition of other Japanese art forms. Among the most revered lineages of Japanese bamboo artists, the Tanabe family gained renown with Chinese style baskets made by patriarch Chikuunsai I for flower arrangements accompanying sencha tea practice. Unlike chanoyu, the tea ceremony that involves serving matcha (powdered green tea), the sencha steeped-tea tradition revolves around the appreciation of karamono (Chinese things). Tanabe Chikuunsai II carried this aesthetic further, employing thin strips of bamboo in precise regular patterns that elegantly incorporate open space. His highly refined works convey a delicate, airy quality.2012.015.016