19th Century Japanese Screen for Tea-Ceremony, Ink Bamboo and Plum on Gold Leaf

Unknown artist Rabbits and Horsetail Reeds Painted in the Year of the Fire Dog, 1826 or 1886. 19th century. The scene depicted here is set under moonlight, with two hares hidden amongst Japanese horsetail reeds. In Japan horsetails have long been associated with the rabbit or hare, which is said to use this silica-rich plant to polish the disc of the moon. It is a furosaki screen, made for use during the tea-ceremony, and it would have been used in ceremonies to celebrate the Mid-Autumn-Moon. In Japan the full moon and the hare have become associated with autumn as this is when the moon is deemed to shine brightest. Hares or rabbits and the moon are often linked together in East Asian folklore. Japanese legends describe the shadows on the surface of the moon as hares pounding sticky rice cakes while an ancient Chinese-Taoist tale tells of a hare that resides in the moon and pounds magic herbs in order to make an elixir of longevity. With this bold compositional design and the distillation of patterns and motifs, the artist has clearly been inspired by paintings of the Japanese Rimpa school. In particular, the work seeks to emulate the innovative artistic styles of the 17th century Rimpa pioneers, rather than the delicate depictions of the later Edo-Rinpa school. The forms of the rabbits can be traced back to the sliding doors of Yogen-in temple painted by Tawaraya Sotatsu, and further to fan paintings by Honami Koetsu...

Kano Naonobu (1607-1650) Plum Tree and Birds Six-fold Japanese Screen. Ink and slight color on paper. In this evocative ink work spread over a six-panel folding screen, we see the consummation of the elegance and refinement of the Edo Kano school. This 17th century screen is a rare surviving example of a large-scale bird and flower painting by Kano Naonobu, the younger brother of Kano Tanyu...

Suzuki Shonen (1848-1918) Meiji period (1868-1912), late 19th century. Twisted pines Pair of six-fold screens. Ink on a gold leaf ground. Sig...

Hawks on plum and pine Soga Nichokuan (active circa 1625-1660) Pair of six-fold screens. Ink, mineral pigments, gofun, gold and speckled gold leaf on paper. Upper seal: H...

Bamboo in moonlight Gamo Rakan (1784-1866) Hanging scroll, ink on silk. Dimensions: Scroll: 201 cm x 58 cm Image: 137 cm x 45 cm In this early 19th century work by Gamo Rakan a light ink wash applied to the silk background silhouettes the moon and suggests the atmosphere of early evening. Even though it is a literati subject, Rakan’s bamboo is quite realistic with a strong decorative style. The painting finds its inspiration from Chinese Ming dynasty painters who often used a single-tone, jet black stroke to emphasize the calligraphic nature of bamboo. In a different era, decorative would have been seen as somewhat unrefined. But increasingly in the Edo period, it was the hallmark of high style. The Japanese people, in particular the rising merchant class, had gradually become apathetic toward the traditional Sesshu and Kano schools of painting. Chinese professional and amateur painters living in the port of Nagasaki during the 18th century had a profound effect on Japanese painting and the freshness of their style and its decorative appeal contributed greatly to its popularity. Gamo Rakan’s teacher, Tani Buncho...

Imao Keisho (1902-1993) Pine Trees Early 20th Century, Circa 1930 Pair of six-panel Japanese screens. Ink on silk and gold leaf. Dimensions: Each screen H. 67.5” x 148” (172 cm x 376 cm) A pair of monumental six-panel Japanese pine screens by the renowned Nihonga artist Imao Keisho. Here Keisho entirely removed the background and brought the pine trees to the surface of the painting. This simplification of the elements makes the scene exceptionally direct and compelling and injects a very modern...

Mineral pigment on gold leaf.

Spring landscape by an unknown painter of the Rinpa school, 19th century, six-panel ink painted on gold leaf on rice paper. The flowers are made with the "gofun" technique, natural or pigmented white oyster powder. Rinpa (? ?, Rinpa) is one of the major historical schools of Japanese painting. the style was consolidated by the brothers Ogata Korin (1658–1716) and Ogata Kenzan...

Paravento a sei pannelli di scuola giapponese Kano: paesaggio con bellissime ed eleganti gru vicino al fiume, con alberi di pino e sakura. Dipinto a mano con pigmenti minerali ed inc...

A striking low and wide two-panel furosaki’byôbu (tea-ceremony room divider) painted with two bright white dragons (ryû) flying amidst swirling black clouds. The left dragon holds a ...

We have a unique Japanese aesthetic sense. And only we can introduce unique items through our purchasing channels in Japan and the experience we have gained so far, in such a way that no one else can imitate. It is an ink painting written after the Meiji era. The biggest attraction of this work is that it uses Chinese characters to create paintings. To explain in detail, it is written here in Chinese characters as "un-ryu" . "Un" is a cloud and "ryu" is a dragon. These are embodied and drawn by comparing them to the meaning of Chinese characters. And the clouds depict the clouds hanging over the mountain, and the dragon depicts the climbing toward the mountain. Humorous paintings...

Late Edo period 19th century Japanese six-panel landscape screen featuring a cypress tree over a flowering hibiscus with a pair of hototogisu birds. Kano school painted with ink and ...