Japan, Hanakago, Hayakawa Shokosai V, 1932-2011

Bambou Hanakago (basket for ikebana) with crossed Bamboo in the shape of a tronconic open vase. Signed on the reverse with an incised signature by the artist: Shoko Zo or Made by Shoko (Hayakawa Shokosai V, 1932 – 2011). He used the go or art name of Shoko from 1963 until his accession to the family title in 1977.
For biographical information, we are indebted to Koichi Okada’s article “The Lineage of Visionaries” in Tai Gallery’s catalogue The Hayakawa Shokosai Lineage: 150 Years of Artistry. Born in 1911, the eldest son of Hayakawa Shokosai IV, Shokosai V studied basketry under his father for fourteen years. In 1963, he adopted the go or art name, Shoko, and mounted his first one man show in 1965. Significantly, that exhibition sold out and foreshadowed the artist’s long and continued success. His father died in 1975 and he succeeded to the family title as Shokosai V in 1977. In 2003, he was honored by the Japanese government as Juyo Mukei Bunkazai Hojisha or Preserver of Important Intangible Cultural Properties (commonly referred to as Ningen Kokuho or Living National Treasure). A modernist indebted to his family’s rich classical tradition, Shokosai V was noted for dramatically modern, parallel construction, fine rattan knotting and the sophisticated Shokosai dye tradition employing bitter plum and alder bark.
He had several pupils , among them, Tanabe Chikuunsai IV.

For other examples of his work, c.f. Robert Coffland’s Contemporary Japanese Bamboo Arts, pages 30 – 36, Masterpieces of Japanese Bamboo Art, 1850-2015, Joe Earle or in the Metropolitan Museum collection in New York.
22x23,5cm