A Japanese woven bamboo basket in the shape of crescent with open top and a wrapped handle circa 1920s-1940s. The basket was woven with "sooted" bamboo (susutake in Japanese). This bamboo materials was collected from traditional thatched-roof houses that had been exposed to decades of smoke from a hearth or cooking fire, therefore the basket displays a deep rich patina that is hard to attain by color-lacquering. The free-hand mat plaiting technique was used to create a swelled crescent shape that appears like a teardrop from the side view. Two short bamboo chunks were randomly incorporated into the front and back facade using irregular plaiting, adding a strong sense of rustic charm to the piece.