Quiver-shaped hanging flower basket

Having trained under Yamamoto Chikuryūsai Ι (no. 32, 33 at right), Shōbun took for his studio name the character Shō, literally meaning flute, from his master’s retired name, Shōen. Unlike his master Chikuryūsai Ι, Shōbun is famous for his creative forms and his use of shi-chiku, black bamboo. Shōbun’s baskets feature a wide variety of shapes ranging from the traditional tightly-woven Chinese style to the loosely-woven Japanese style, and even include baskets in the form of lifelike fish or cicadas. The shape of this basket is inspired by the ebira, a traditional Japanese arrow case worn on warriors’ backs. This basket was meant to hang on a wall. As all baskets exhibited in the gallery are designed to be used for flower arranging, each basket comes with a separate bamboo or copper water container which goes inside it when it holds flowers.