Ikebana basket (hanakago) made of bamboo wickerwork of elongated cylindrical and
conic shape. Accompanied by a natural bamboo vase and a carrying box.
Signed Nakata Kinseki (中田錦石, 1902-1959) on the underside of the basket (錦石作,
Kinseki saku, “made by Kinseki”). He is a disciple of Iizuka Hôsai II (1872-1934). Iizuka
Hôsai II, originally from Tochigi Prefecture, moved to Tokyo in 1910 where he continued the family tradition of bamboo art. He trained his brothers and Nakata
Kinseki.
Transport box with the artist’s signature and seal.
The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art holds one of his piece : Nakata Kinseki, Tea
Ceremony Chest, Shôwa era, 1940. Timber, bamboo and rattan. H. 16 1/4 in. (41.3 cm);
W. 15 1/2 in. (39.4 cm); D. 10 1/2 in. (26.7 cm). Inv. N° 2019.425.29a, b.
Ikebana or Ka-do (the way of flowers) is a traditional Japanese art of flower
arrangement. Contrary to Western floral art, ikebana does not aim to emphasize only
the beauty of flowers and the harmony of colors. This art wants to value the vase, the
stems, the leaves, the branches as much as the flower itself. The structure of the flower
arrangement is based on three symbols: the sky, the earth and humanity.
Ikebana is a tradition of floral art that dates back over thirteen centuries. Japan
received the floral art from China in the early 7th century. The Tang Dynasty was then
spreading throughout the Eastern world and Japanese ambassadors brought back with
Buddhism the custom of floral offerings – kuge – to Buddhist altars and stupas.
The ambassador Ono no Imoko became the Senmu priest and was the first in Japan to
codify the floral art, preferring to the Confucian exuberance the Buddhist sobriety and
the classical rigor of the Trinitarian principle that we still find today in many Japanese bouquets

Nakata Kinseki (1902-1959)
Japan – Showa era (1926-1989), mid-20th century
Height : 13 in (33 cm) – Diameter : 4,6 in (11,7 cm)