Basket by Kajiwara Aya, $4750 (£3900) at John Moran.
Collectors of Ikebana basketry came out in force for John Moran’s (27% buyer’s premium) California Living sale in Monrovia on October 10, sending many lots from a variety of eras and styles well above their estimates.
Ikebana is the Japanese traditional art form of floral arrangement. Suitable containers for the arrangements are often just as important as the floral design.
Kajiwara Aya (b.1941) was one of the first women admitted as a full member of the Japan Craft Arts Association.
Her 2004 basket is a large woven design using bamboo and rattan in a spiral pattern. Fitted with a tomobako (storage box), this design exceeded its $2000-3000 estimate to hammer at $4750 (£3900).
With a family background of making functional bamboo items for the home, Hondo Syoryu (b.1951) seemed predestined to work in the medium. His 21st century bamboo sculpture from a private collection is believed to be titled Undulation and is signed at its base.
Guided at $500-700, it sold for $5000 (£4100).
Kawano Shoko (b.1957) is a Contemporary basket artist whose earlier career was in sculpture, an influence seen in many of his works. Birth from 2005 is signed in kanji by the artist at the base and has a provenance to the Tai Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
It hammered at $4000 (£3300) against an estimate of $1000-1500.
