Tanabe Chikuunsai II (1910-2000), based in Osaka and Sakai, was the son of Tanabe Chikuunsai I. He was the second member of the Tanabe dynasty to adopt the artist name Chikuunsai, meaning "Bamboo Cloud." This name was inherited when he took over the management of the Kaifu-nan-so studio in 1937, following the death of Chikuunsai I.
He was among the first artists to sign their works.

In 1930, he became a member of the Naniwa Ranyukai group. The following year, he took the studio name Schochikuunsai and was accepted into the 12th Teiten, marking the beginning of numerous participations in Teiten, Shin-Butten, and Niten exhibitions. Changing his style in 1937, he abandoned the somewhat heavy karamono baskets for more open designs such as thin and light sukashi.

In 1952, he was awarded the Tokusen and Asakura Prizes at the 8th Nitten Exhibition. In 1959, he won the Osaka Prefectural Art Prize, and in 1981, the Japanese government promoted him to the 4th rank of Zuiho-Sho. In 1991, he passed on his studio name to his eldest son, who became Chikuunsai III and took the name Icchikusai.

Chikuunsai II remained active in the later years of his life, serving as an advisor for the Nitten exhibitions, and as a member of the Nihon Shin-kôgei Bijutsu Kyokai Association and permanent director of the Osaka Kôgei Kyokai Association.

This basket, dating from the period between 1937 and 1944, illustrates his ambition and commitment to perpetuating the family legacy in a very personal style. Made from aged hobichiku bamboo, it reveals a rustic aesthetic prized by the aesthetes of the time, particularly followers of the "Way of Tea."
A similar basket was sold by the Eocene Gallery in Kyoto. It was called "Mountain Path."
31.5 x 27.5 x 28.5cm