Heisei era (1989-2019), Madake bamboo and rattan, artist's signature inscribed on basket, with removable cylinder, comes together with inscribed wooden tomobako storage box with cloth bearing seal and name of artist.

9 1/4 in. x 4 1/2 in. diameter,

Private Collection, Wilmington, North Carolina

Purchased from Tai Gallery in 2006.

Abe Motoshi was born in Beppu, the home of bamboo growing. He attended Beppu Midorigaoka High School where he studied bamboo craft under Mr. Shimoda who studied under Master Shono Shounsai, a Living National Treasure of Japan. Aftter finishing high school he apprenticed with Master Shounsai for two years. He was admitted to the Japan Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition for the first time in 1976.
He describes creating a bamboo basket as “joyful” and “satisfying,” and in the next sentence, but also says the process is “really arduous.” There are baskets in the Shosoin treasure house that have survived for over a thousand years. When Abe makes a basket, that’s how long he intends it to last. He is painstaking with his calculations of width and depth allowing him to plait the bamboo together very tightly, increasing the strength and solidity of the final form.

One piece of rattan weave has come loose at bottom rim.