Hanging flower basket in the form of a hatchet sheath

二代早川尚古斎作　「なた籃」

This so-called hatchet sheath basket—in a typical shape favored by tea practitioners—is made to hang in a chanoyu tearoom. The Hayakawa Shokosai family is one of the most distinguished lineages of bamboo artists in Japan. This rare basket is one of only a handful of surviving works by the second-generation Shokosai, who died young.