Sun

“Sun” (Yō) belongs to Tanabe Chikuunsai III’s leading series in which he uses arrow bamboo (yadake). The plaiting technique, in which the horizontal elements are being narrower and more closely spaced than the vertical elements, is known as nuki-ami (mat plaiting). The dark, thicker arrow bamboo elements give the work a sense of substance. From a vertical alignment, the strips are then bent inward, making the piece three-dimensional. As in Gourd-Shaped Flower Basket, no color was used in the lacquer finish. Similar work illustrated in Coffland, Robert T. The Tanabe Lineage: Four Generations. Santa Fe, NM: TAI Gallery, 2009, p. 22–23; and in Tanabe Chikuunsai III, and Tanabe Shōchiku. “Tanabe Chikuunsai rekidai ni miru: Sakai no bunka to takekago shi.” Me no me, no. 8 (2007): p. 38.