Horned turban shell basket for holding flowers

江ノ島製　三代 早川 尚古斎補手「栄螺籠華入」大正11年6月18日売茶忌（大阪箕面山瀧安寺）献花所用

The body of this basket was originally a utilitarian fishing basket from Enoshima Island—used to hold turban shells. Its handle was added by the eminent bamboo artist Shokosai III, giving this humble basket a sophisticated twist. An inscription on its wooden storage box tells us that this basket was used in a 1922 memorial sencha tea ceremony at an Osaka temple, honoring the Edo-period literati priest and tea master Baisao (1675–1763).

A newspaper article written the day after the memorial tea describes how this basket was filled with beautiful, colorful summer flowers for the ceremony. The altar was laden with offerings of tea sweets. Ritual tea was offered to a bust portrait of Baisao painted by Ito Jakuchu (1716–1800), an artist featured in the Asian Art Museum's 2013 summer exhibition In the Moment.

This basket may have been one of the last touched by Shokosai III. The artist passed away in an Osaka hospital, only a few weeks after the memorial tea ceremony.