A search of trees begun before the turn of the last century will show a lot of things that don't conform to "modern" ideas of bonsai. It's not that modern bonsai are "better," just that bonsai begun in the 20th century (And many before being restyled) using modern tools and techniques are very different from the old bonsai that preceded them.
When bonsai began, trees were mostly taken from the mountains and plunked into containers with little artistic adjustment. That changed over time, as owners tried to shape them a bit. Wire and easily available metal tools allowed that. Bonsai used to be the province of the rich and noble class and sometime forbidden for 'commoners' to own, much less have metal tools to work on them with. Metal wire was not easily available until after the industrial revolution (which Japan lagged behind) as it remained mostly closed to the west until the late 19th-early 20th century.
This pine, the Yamaki pine at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in D.C, is an example. It began its life as a bonsai 400 years ago. If you look at its structure, it is mostly a barrel trunk with branches coming off of it. Very little "movement" in the huge trunk.
The art of bonsai has contended with a number of challenges throughout the years. Unlike other works of art, bonsai plants are alive and continue growing even after the artist […]
www.nichibei.org
The hinoki cypress at the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard in Boston are among the first bonsai ever imported into the U.S. in 1937. They were over 100 years old when they came here in 1937. They retain much of their original design.
arboretum.harvard.edu
There are other examples. Many older bonsai have been redesigned in the last century though.