Hayakawa Shokosai V was the son of Hayakawa Shokosai IV, under whom he studied basketry for fourteen years. He went on to hold his first one man show in 1965 and in 2003 he was designated a Living National Treasure (Ningen Kokuho) by the Japanese government. He would employ techniques such as modern parallel construction, intricate rattan knotting and elegant dying, as seen in the present work.

A similar example is in the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, object no. 2012.015.032, go to:

https://emuseum.cornell.edu/search/hayakawa%20shokkosai%20V/objects/images

Post Lot Text

A traditional art-form reimagined for the contemporary world - the travels Victoria, Lady de Rothschild took in Japan were pivotal, not only to her aesthetic, but to her collecting as whole. Traditionally viewed as an artisanal craft rather than artistic, in the last fifty years the art of Japanese bamboo has been reborn and firmly placed in the collections of contemporary design. Bamboo is a challenging material to work with and the masters represented in Victoria, Lady de Rothschild’s collection are the best in their field; there are said to be only fifty full-time professional bamboo artists making the craft in Japan today and only two have been named “Living National Treasures”, a governmental accolade recognising cultural figures. Unsurprisingly several of the baskets in Victoria, Lady de Rothschild’s collection are by these fascinating and talented masters: Fujinuma Noboru and Hayakawa Shokosai V, a fifth generation bamboo artist.

Fujinuma Noboru, one of the living masters and who Victoria, Lady de Rothschild purchased three baskets from, summarises the art form beautifully saying “Bamboo art is simple and that’s why it shows the deepest aesthetic and human quality of the artists. Each stick of bamboo is different. Understanding each piece and what you will create out of them – that’s the charm of bamboo art”.