DOI Heft:
No. 215 (February, 1911)
DOI Artikel:Wheatley, Oliver: Japanese ornamental basket work
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20972#0069
Japanese Ornamental Basket Work
Of all the materials employed for the work,
bamboo appears to make the finest as well as the
strongest. It can be divided into extremely slender
fibres, such as those of the Burmese example, fig. 25,
or the Formosan basket, fig. 26. The curious effect
of fig. 27 is not produced by structural design. A
body form is first made, and bunches of fibres are
then tucked in as seen, their ends being free inside,
but as most of these baskets so made have a lining,
these free ends present no objection. The same
system is employed in fig. 11.
At the Japan-British Exhibition a basket was
exhibited (fig. 9) composed of vertical and horizontal
flat half-inch strips of bamboo, the horizontal ones
formingcomplete rings, butthe joints were completely
concealed as effectually as a metal joint would be.
It is qualities such as these which raise the craft of
basket-making to a veritable art like cabinet-making
or silversmith's work, a development which can only
take place when the art is pursued as a serious one.
We have ample evidence of the exceedingly durable
-FLOWER BASKET
-LUNCH BASKET
of other forms (figs. 5, 6, 11, 15). This
element in particular is lacking in
European work, a curious circum-
stance when we think of the value
attached to plain surfaces in other
branches of design. This however is
very extensively employed by all
Oriental basket workers, and a some-
what analogous employment
of plain structural ribs is
shown in fig. 21 as a relief
to the closely-woven fibres
inside.
A structurally different
system is employed in figs.
22, 23, 24. Here all the
members start from one end,
and by crossing at various
angles, and also in conse-
quence of the varying width
of the members at certain
places, produce an effect at
once pretty and structurally
very sound. Fig. 24 suggests
an extended use, and shows
what may be done by this
method for decorative details
of furniture generally—a
Celtic art in actual inter-
lacings. FIG. 15.—FLAT BASKET PROBABLY USED FOR GATHERING FLOWERS
47
Of all the materials employed for the work,
bamboo appears to make the finest as well as the
strongest. It can be divided into extremely slender
fibres, such as those of the Burmese example, fig. 25,
or the Formosan basket, fig. 26. The curious effect
of fig. 27 is not produced by structural design. A
body form is first made, and bunches of fibres are
then tucked in as seen, their ends being free inside,
but as most of these baskets so made have a lining,
these free ends present no objection. The same
system is employed in fig. 11.
At the Japan-British Exhibition a basket was
exhibited (fig. 9) composed of vertical and horizontal
flat half-inch strips of bamboo, the horizontal ones
formingcomplete rings, butthe joints were completely
concealed as effectually as a metal joint would be.
It is qualities such as these which raise the craft of
basket-making to a veritable art like cabinet-making
or silversmith's work, a development which can only
take place when the art is pursued as a serious one.
We have ample evidence of the exceedingly durable
-FLOWER BASKET
-LUNCH BASKET
of other forms (figs. 5, 6, 11, 15). This
element in particular is lacking in
European work, a curious circum-
stance when we think of the value
attached to plain surfaces in other
branches of design. This however is
very extensively employed by all
Oriental basket workers, and a some-
what analogous employment
of plain structural ribs is
shown in fig. 21 as a relief
to the closely-woven fibres
inside.
A structurally different
system is employed in figs.
22, 23, 24. Here all the
members start from one end,
and by crossing at various
angles, and also in conse-
quence of the varying width
of the members at certain
places, produce an effect at
once pretty and structurally
very sound. Fig. 24 suggests
an extended use, and shows
what may be done by this
method for decorative details
of furniture generally—a
Celtic art in actual inter-
lacings. FIG. 15.—FLAT BASKET PROBABLY USED FOR GATHERING FLOWERS
47