Woven bamboo basket, worked in the tradition of karamono, Chinese style baskets, each knot perfect, the proportions exquisite.

Large size and in excellent condition. 57 x 20 x 20 cm

Yamamoto Chikuryusai I (1868–1945) was an early modern artist from Osaka. Born in the first year of the Meiji period into the Yanagi clan, his old samurai family hailed from Yodo, a castle town between Osaka and Kyoto. He was later adopted by his sister-in-law into the Yamamoto family, changing his name to Yamamoto, but it was from his older brother, Yanagi Takesada, that he learned basketry in their shop in Osaka.
Takesada moved to Korea; for the Japanese at the time it was the New West, but Chikuryusai remained in Japan. Chikuryusai's baskets have a traditional elegance. He was renowned for his calligraphy, his sencha aesthetic, and his elegant and reserved artistic vision.

His baskets have won awards at several major international exhibitions and, along with his two sons, Chikuryusai II and Chikken, have participated in national Teiten/Bunten art exhibitions. He served as a mentor not only to his two sons, but also to Hamano Chikkosai, Ikeda Seiryusai, and Suemura Shobun.
In 1929, he gave the artist "Go" (name) to his son but continued to work under the name Shoen until his death in 1945.

His work is held at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Met, New York, among many other public and private collections.