From our recent Japanese Acquisition Travels- comes this unusual large garden stone vessel in the form of a delightful sculpture- totally repurposed as an elegant water basin tsukubai or a unique and handsome planter.

The handsome antique mochi basin was carved from a heavy dense gray stone and was discovered in a decades old Japanese garden.

It’s a one of a kind and coming from a sixty year old Saga antique garden ornaments collection.

Substantial dimensions: 20 inches tall and 19.5 inches diameter at top.
Its base is 12 inches diameter. Heavy.

This one-of-a-kind basin of simple form, possesses unique qualities and represents one of the finer old world Japanese garden antiques we have been fortunate to locate in our most recent Japanese acquisitions travels.

Appropriate for tea gardens it might makea wonderful contemporary artistic statement as water/floating flower vessels, planter, or as an eye appealing, stand alone work of art placed in your favorite space. Note the photo of mochi folks prepping.

Only one we’ve seen.

About Mochi

Mochi (もち, 餅), [motɕi] ⓘ is a Japanese rice cake made of mochigome (もち米), a short-grain japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The steamed rice is pounded into paste , most often in a large round wooden vessel and molded into the desired shape. In Japan, it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki (餅搗き).[1] While eaten year-round, mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year, and is commonly sold and eaten during that time.

Whether you install flowers, leafy vines, succulents, stones or floating flowers in glistening water- this rare sculpturaly shaped stone basin will always amaze.

History:
Water basins Tsukubai are singularly the most popular, frequent and practical garden ornament found in Japanese gardens. They symbolize Buddhist “purification” and are usually strategically placed in gardens or as an indoor entry tokanoma accent to allow visitors opportunity to cleanse hands prior to participating in a tea ceremony event or before honoring a shrine or temple. These kinds welcome visitors to stop and bow in a respectful, humble manner to perform purification of body and soul ritual.

Lifetime guarantee of authenticity: All of our Asian works of art come with our Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee.

Our gallery has been dealing in authentic Japanese and Asian art, garden ornaments, lanterns and water basins for 25 years. Our president personally travels to Japan and Europe each year to meet his network partners who assist him in finding best examples. He personally inspects each antique work of art to ensure its old age, authenticity and quality condition.

We are members of NAJGA- North American Japanese Garden Association.