19th Century Small Japanese Screen Pair, Pine Trees and Vines on Gold Leaf

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...

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 hi...

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...

Three Friends of Winter Nakajima Raisho (1796-1871) Late Edo period, circa 1850 Ink and gold leaf on paper. This is a double-sided Japanese Furosaki or tea-ceremony screen from the mid 19th century; bamboo and plum on the front, young pines the back. It by Nakajima Raisho, a master painter of the Maruyama school in the late Edo and early Meiji periods. In this work Raisho combines exquisite ink brushwork with large open spaces of brilliant gold-leaf to inspire the viewers imagination. Rather than naturalism, he is searching for the phycological impression of the motifs, resulting in abstraction and stylization. His simplification of the motifs the result of looking to capture the inner nature of the objects. This art motif is known as Sho Chiku Bai, or the Three Friends of Winter. Evergreen pine connotes steadfastness, bamboo suggests both strength and flexibility, while plum blossoms unfurling on snow-laden branches imply hardiness. Combined, this trio is emblematic of Japanese new year. Chinese literati were the first to group the three plants together due to their noble characteristics. Like these resilient plants flowering so beautifully in winter, it was expected of the scholar-gentleman to cultivate a strong character with which he would be able to show the same degree of perseverance and steadfastness even during times of adverse conditions. The screen would have been placed near the hearth of a room used for the Japanese tea ceremony, shielding the fire from draughts and also forming a stimulating and decorative backdrop behind the tea utensils. It would have been used in the Hatsugama, or first tea-ceremony of the new year. Nakajima Raisho (1796-1871) originally studied under Watanabe Nangaku before entering the school of Maruyama Ozui. He was the highest ranking Maruyama school painter at the end of the Edo period and was known as one of the ‘Four Heian Families’ along with Kishi...

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...

Cranes Anonymous, Kano School. Edo period, second half of the 17th century. Pair of six-panel screens. Ink, pigment gofun and gold l...

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...

Mineral pigments on gold leaf on mulberry paper with a silk brocade border.

It is a two-panel screen from the Taisho period, around 1920, beautifully painted in excellent detail. The best of Rinpa's school painting: large empty space that highlights a pair of mandarin ducks in the middle of the pond. On the right, flying birds give the painting a great lightness, under many multicolored flowers they celebrate spring. All very proportionate and pleasant, the dimension really interesting. Mineral pigments on gold leaf. It turns out Anonymous. Lucio Morini.

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 ...

A delightful Japanese six panel painted paper screen featuring the beloved figure Hotei, Edo Period, early 19th century. Hotei, called Budai in China, and known as the Laughing Buddha or Fat Buddha in the West, is considered to be an emanation of Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future. In Japan, he also holds a special place as one of the Seven Lucky Gods, being the god of fortune, and protector of children. He is always portrayed as a mirthful and corpulent man, dressed in loose robes that show off his round belly. He carries a sack with him, said to be filled with treasure. As the protector of children, he is often portrayed with them playing on or around him, as he is here. The children portrayed in this screen are dressed in Chinese style clothing...