A Day in the Harvest

STILLIFE No.19
W1100 × D600 × H452 mm
2021, Unique
Copper, Japanese folk tool, Color glass(Yellow)
Collected: SOMEWHERE TOKYO

Feel the craftsman’s attention to detail in the carefully made tool. The woven bamboo pattern seems to have “beauty” as its function. The inscription “February 1965, Izutsu” on the back of the tool is the signature of the maker, or was it written by the user? Either way, it is a sign of respect for the tool. I imagine a day in the life of the person who used the tool and enjoyed the harvest.

Encountering a tool is a once-in-a-lifetime, and this “winnowing basket” struck a chord with me. The tool is a common item in a Japanese antique store. And this one was not only in good condition, but also had a speciality.

While I designing the table with the tool in studio, it was an attractive enough object as itself. A “winnowing basket” is a tool used for threshing and sifting rice and other grains, and for transporting them. Although there are differences in shape, the tools is common all over the world. In transforming it into a table, I imagined the yellow glass as a scene of ears of rice ripening in the rice fields in autumn, coloring the whole area with gold.

Photo by Daisuke Yoshio