17th Century Japanese Screen Pair by Soga Nichokuan, Hawks on Pine & Plum Trees

Unkoku Toshuku (1722-1779) Crows and Pines A pair of six-panel Japanese Screens. Ink and gold leaf on paper. Dimensions: Each Screen: H. 170.5 cm x W. 375 cm Haha-cho or mynah birds, whose forms resemble crows in artwork, were commonly depicted in Japanese art. These types of paintings were originally modeled on paintings attributed to the 13th century Chinese painter Muqi (Mokkei), whose art was enormously influential in Japan. Crows only became a theme among Japanese artists from the later 1500s onward. They likely were inspired by these imported Chinese paintings of myna birds, which are not native to Japan, substituting the native species of crow instead.  The best known early examples of the depiction of Japanese crows are two Momoyama screen...

Pines and Cranes Anonymous. Kyoto Kano School. Late 17th/early 18th centuries, circa 1700. Pair of six-panel Japanese folding screens. Ink, gofun, pigment and gold leaf on paper. This bold composition presents two pine trees extending to the left and right across a gold leaf background. One tree is silhouetted against a green ground, golden clouds obscuring its true size, the other stretches across a stylized waterway. The pines are paired with Manchurian cranes with red crests and snow white plumage. Both have been highly auspicious motifs in East Asia since Chinese antiquity. Here the artist utilized fluid and instinctive ink brushstrokes to define the trunk, branches and tail feathers, in strong contrast to the precision and sharp angularity of the crane’s legs and beaks. The adoption of this vast metallic painting support required an unerring sense of design and composition, so that the negative space surrounding motifs could imply context for the otherwise floating pictorial elements. The brushwork detailing the trunks of the pines, the exaggerated dimensions of the pine trees and the strength and dynamism of the composition are all reminiscent of Kano Eitoku...

Dimensions (Each screen): H. 176 cm x W. 378 cm (69’’ x 149’’) This pair of Japanese folding screens depict blossoming plum trees amongst young pines. They are designed to capture t...

Shioka Sorin (1781-1850) Flowers & Birds of the Four Seasons Pair of six-panel Japanese Screens. Ink, gofun and pigments on silk. Dimensions (each screen): H. 91.5cm x W. 285cm (3...

Impressive pair of 17th century Japanese Edo period Rinpa school screens made in the manner and style of Autumn Grasses by Tawaraya Sotatsu (1570-1640). Beautifully decorated with wi...

Fantastic pair of 19th century Japanese late Edo/early Meiji period six-panel screens titled The seven sages of the bamboo grove. The Kano school screens...

Monumental pair of late 18th century Japanese Edo/Tokugawa period byobu screens depicting the battles between Taira and Minamoto. The screens have six panels each with individual sce...

In Japan, cranes symbolize fidelity as they mate for life and turtles symbolize longevity. Additionally, this screen also has the Japanese motif of sho-chiku-bai, or the three friends of winter (pine, plum, and bamboo). So called the three friends of winter because all three flourish during the cold months. This screen was originally fusuma doors...