A beautiful dark basket of randomly overlapping dark smoke-stained bamboo by Shiotsuki Juran enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Ho-o Take Hanamori. It is 22 x 16 x 25.5 cm (9 x 6-1/4 x 10 inches) and is in excellent condition, complete with a lacquered bamboo otoshi inside.
Shiotsuki Juran (b. 1948) was born in Akehama, Ehime Prefecture, under the name Shiotsuki Toshimitsu. Among the most innovative bamboo artists of his generation, he pursued a highly individual vision that embraced both the inherent flexibility of bamboo and the possibilities of contemporary expression. His work is distinguished by its dynamic forms and his willingness to incorporate unconventional materials, extending the expressive language of traditional bamboo basketry beyond established conventions. A notable feature of his oeuvre is the application of lacquer to all of his baskets, a practice that enhanced their durability while imparting a refined surface quality. After graduating from the Bamboo Crafts Department of the Beppu Higher Technical Training School in 1975, Shiotsuki studied under the renowned bamboo master Ichihara Kaunsai. Beginning in 1976, he exhibited widely at Japan's foremost art and craft exhibitions, including the Seibu Crafts Exhibition, the Japan Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition, the Nitten, and the Daisan Bunmei Exhibition, receiving numerous distinctions throughout his career. His many honors include the Minister of Education Award at the Nichigei Exhibition (1978), the Encouragement Prize at the Daisan Bunmei Exhibition (1979 and 1987), the President's Award of the Japan Kōgei Association at both the Seibu Crafts Exhibition (1980) and the Japan Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition (1989), the Silver Prize at Tankō's Chadō Art of Tomorrow Exhibition (1990), and the Jury's Special Prize at the Sōgetsu Flower Vessel Exhibition (1991). He also received the President's Award and the Crafts Association Award at the Japan Sencha Crafts Exhibition in 1995 and 1998 respectively. In 1999, he was invited to exhibit in Paris as part of One Hundred Selections of Contemporary Japanese Crafts. In 2002, illness brought his artistic activities to an untimely halt, leaving behind a body of work that remains highly regarded for its technical sophistication, sculptural imagination, and significant contribution to the development of modern Japanese bamboo art.
