Edo Paintings and Screens

From our recent Japanese acquisitions A rare couple. These Japanese Tachibina dolls represent the simplest essential form of the imperial couple. Their beautiful faces were crafted from crushed shell called gofun coated over carved wood and their dress feature period Edo (1840) textile kimono dress. Used as the display for the Girl’s day celebration, more specifically they are constructed of kinran brocade fabric covered paper, the heads carved of wood and covered in gofun with painted features and inset hair, the male form with outstretched arms and conical legs, the female has a cylindrical form. They come in an original kiri wood storage box. Dimensions: Large doll 12 inches tall and 6 inches wide Small doll...

Japanese Two Panel Screen: Mountain Landscape with Calligraphy. Late Edo (c. 1850) painting of a dramatic mountainside carved by a waterfall with a crane flying in the foreground an...

Edo period (18th century) furosaki screen (tea screen), with seal of the artist: Jakyu. Korin School painting, employing Kenzan style of split image. (see "Morning Glories" Metropoli...

Originally fusuma doors, three deer stand in a clearing in a pine forest with gold leaf mist. Mid Edo period painting in mineral pigments on gold leaf wi...

Late 17th century Kano school peony landscape screens. One of a pair of screens signed: Hogan Josen Fujiwara Chikanobu Hitsu - Kano Chikanobu (Shushin) ...

Japanese Two Panel Screen: Mandarin Ducks and Geese Among Bamboo and Flowers, Edo period painting (c. 1850) of mandarin ducks and geese on a grassy sh...

Kano School painting of a bamboo grove with blooming flowers and gold dust mists. Painted in mineral pigments on mulberry paper with gold dust and a silk brocade border.

A six-panel Japanese paper screen with poems, autumn flowers, bamboo fence and Mandarin ducks. Poems are believed to be earlier but were probably...

Late 17th century Kano school peony landscape screens. Both screens signed: Hogan Josen Fujiwara Chikanobu Hitsu - Kano Chikanobu (Shushin) (1660 - 1728...

Pair of antique Japanese Nagasaki School paintings by Yanagisawa Kien (1704-1758), depicting classical ikebana flower arrangements. Each painted on silk in mineral pigments and beari...

A rare pair of antique Japanese Karashishi paintings in a landscape of rocks and peony flowers on gold leaf ground in fine handmade frames, Edo period, early 18th century. The Karash...

Kano School painting showing ancient pine, exotic birds, peonies, azalea and cherry tree in bloom on far right. Early Edo period painting, (1614 -...

This is a picture of a cat drawn by a person named "Toshizumi Nitta" from the end of the Edo period to the beginning of the Meiji period. She is a very simple and cute cat. He is a vassal of the Tokugawa Shogunate, born in Ota City, Gunma Prefecture (southern part of Gunma Prefecture). He was related to the Tokugawa family and lived in a large mansion in the Ota clan in Gunma prefecture. However, the Nitta family's territory was very small, and they were by no means a wealthy vassal. He seems to have lived quite poorly. So he painted cats and sold them to people. The Nitta family continued to draw pictures of this cat for four generations. "Nitta toshizumi" is equivalent to the fourth generation. During the Edo period, sericulture was thriving in the Kanto region. Cats were said to be the gods of silkworms, as they drive away mice, the natural enemies of silkworms. It was the Nitta family who drew such a cat on paper, pasted it in the silkworm chamber, and sold it as a mouse repellent. There were also other monks who painted pictures of cats, but the Nitta family in particular was related to the Tokugawa family, so people believed that paintings of cats had special powers. , a lot of paintings...

Birds & Flowers of the Seasons Pheasants & Plum in Snow Unframed painting. Ink, pigment and gofun on silk Kano Chikanobu 1819-1888 Signature...

Birds & flowers of the seasons Pheasants & plum in snow Unframed painting. Ink, pigment and gofun on silk Kano Chikanobu 1819-1888 Signature...

Birds & Flowers of the Seasons Pheasants & Plum in Snow Unframed painting. Ink, pigment and gofun on silk Kano Chikanobu 1819-1888 Signature...

Birds & Flowers of the Seasons Pheasants & Plum in Snow Ink, pigment and gofun on silk Kano Chikanobu 1819-1888 Signature: Chikanobu Seal: Shateki Offered here is an unframed ‘kacho-e’ painting by the 19th century Japanese Takamatsu domain painter Kano Chikanobu. There are 8 individual paintings available, which originally would have been part of a set of 12. ‘Kacho-e’ literally means ‘pictures of birds and flowers’. In reality it covers a wide range of natural motifs including birds, fish, insects and small animals in combination with flowers, grasses or trees. The theme has a long history in Japanese painting. It is one of three painting genres, the other two being landscape and figure, which derive from Chinese academic painting classification. As one of the accepted types of painting to be shown in official residences, scenes of birds, flowers and animals were rife with metaphorical reference as well as physical beauty. In these paintings Chikanobu has made conspicuous use of brilliant pigments and meticulous brushwork. The rocks, water, trees, blossoms, and birds are treated as stylized formal elements in a grand design. All of the components contribute to the patterned effect and tactile richness of the surface. Beyond their highly decorative qualities, the subject of some of the paintings are also an allusion to imperial allegiance; the pheasants are symbolic of bravery and steadfastness, peacocks represent divinity and power, and the phoenix paired with paulownia a just and benevolent ruler. Cranes and turtles symbolize longevity, and the lush, full bloom of the peony flower represents wealth and opulence. Paintings of native Japanese birds and flowers were appreciated primarily for their evocation of the seasons and the traditional poetic emotions associated with them. This is the case with the spring scene of cherry blossoms and birds and the winter scene of narcissus, nandina and sparrows. The rich expression of flower and bird paintings...

Birds & flowers of the seasons Pheasants & plum in snow Unframed painting. Ink, pigment and gofun on silk Kano Chikanobu 1819-1888 Signature...

Clouds of gold, water and many colorful flowers: Japanese six-panel folding screen by Rimpa School. Hand painted with rice mineral pigments and inks on rice paper and gold leaf.

Edo period (first half of the 19th century) antique Japanese scroll of peonies. Signature and seal read: Baiitsu Yamamoto, (1783-1856). Yamamoto was t...

Japanese four-panel screen: Four Fusuma (Sliding doors) with venerable plum. Four individual fusuma (sliding doors), which can be hung together or separately. Signature and seal on f...