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Unusual Japanese Burlwood Basket, Meiji browse these categories for related items... All Items: Antiques:Regional Art:Asian:Japanese:Baskets: Pre 1920: item # 335690 Please refer to our stock # 11-305 when inquiring.
B & C Antiques P. O. Box 291 Derby, CT 06418 203-929-7312 Guest Book $395 |
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This wonderful Japanese shallow form basket or “moribon,” made of curling hardwood burl, has a bold irregular loop handle and was hand carved out of a single tree stump. Meiji period (1869-1912). The two round cutout carvings on the inside of the basket indicate that it might have served as a tabako-bon smoking tray. The basket’s swirling edge follows the natural tree shape, creating a wonderfully elegant movement. The inherent natural honey-colored hue of the wood enhances the rich grain in the burl, giving its graphic wavy design a luminous depth and sheen. We suspect that the small circular cutout may have been made to hold a bamboo cylinder ash receptacle and the larger one to contain a small ceramic brazier where small bits of charcoal were kept burning among ashes for use in lighting tobacco. (Enlargement Photo 6 shows what it might have looked like as a tabako-bon.) CONDITION: This is a wonderful and unusual example of early Japanese burl wood carving, and its condition is excellent. There is some evidence of burn marks, providing further evidence of its possible use as a tabako-bon. DIMENSIONS: 7” (17.8 cm) x 6” (15.3 cm) x 7” (17.8 cm) high to top of handle. |
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