Mid 20th Century Suzuki Gengensai Japanese Woven Bamboo Hanging Ikebana Basket

A rare hanging ikebana basket by Japanese bamboo artist Suzuki Gengensai (1891-1950) circa 1923-50. This elegant hanakago was made entirly …
A rare hanging ikebana basket by Japanese bamboo artist Suzuki Gengensai (1891-1950) circa 1923-50. This elegant hanakago was made entirly from white bamboo. It consists of a square footed platform with bent bamboo rods on four corners converging onto the top into an open birdcage-like form, which is to be hung from a hooked bamboo rod. The platform features a square plating base and finely woven edges and feet and a single strand of rope fence. A separate ikebana container was made from a large bamboo culm with its node base. The container was lacquered interiorly for waterproof and it features a kintsugi stripe. Either made as the artist’s intention, or as a repair at some point of the life of this historical object, it adds a poetic stroke of wabi-sabi ambience to the piece. The hanakago was signed twice “Gengensai”, on the base as well as at the end of the hanging rod as shown. It retains its original storage wood box (tomobako) which is inscribed the titled (collector seal) on the exterior of the lid and further titled, signed and sealed by the artist under the lid.
Suzuki Gengensai was from Kansai region and active in Osaka. He studied bamboo art under Yamashita Kochikusai (1876-1947) and became an independent artist in 1913. He received his artist’s name Gengensai in 1914 and in 1923 he changed the characters to Gen, a slight written variation of the character. This basket was signed in this later variation, which helps to date the piece to post 1923-1950.