Japanese 2-Panel Furosaki’byôbu 風炉先屏風 'Tea-Ceremony Folding Screen' with Dragons

An elaborate, large six-panel byôbu (folding screen) featuring a detailed genre painting on gold leaf, capturing the vibrancy of festive scenes from the Edo period. Central to the p...

Beautiful, large two-panel byôbu (room divider) with a serene painting of red-leaved bamboo and rocks on an oxidized silver leaf background. Silver leaf continuously undergoes the process of oxidation, which creates a beautiful aged patina. On the left an inscription from a ‘Zekku’ poem by the Chinese poet Yang Zai (1271?1323), titled: Shan shang zhu (bamboo (painted) on a fan). Translated as : Why would people plant a lot of bamboos? The shade of a single culm is also beautiful. In the autumn night it rocks on the wind, And the fresh sound echoes in my dream. Dated: Shôwa, the year kôshin (1938). Signature unknown...

An amazing pair of six-panel hinagata byôbu (doll festival folding screens) with a continuous painting on gold leaf showcasing flower carts (hana’guruma) at the edge of a winding river. Both laden with a large bamboo basket...

Refined, tall two-panel byôbu (folding screen) completely adorned with ‘Wajima Ryûsaku’ lacquer by the Nitten award winning artist Mitsuo Takana (1956). Featuring five refined images inspired by woodblock prints from the famous series ‘Tôkaidô gojûsan tsugi’ (The fifty-three stations of the Tokaido road), like the 1st station Nihonbashi, the 10th station Hakone, and the 21st station Okabe. The design is executed in hiramaki-e (low-relief lacquer design) in shades of gold, silver, heightened by some multi-coloured details. Set on a shiny black lacquer substrate. Signed in red lacquer in the lower right corner. Including original signed & sealed wooden tomobako (storage box). The front with an inscription about the contents as described above. The inside: ‘Friend of the Nitten Exhibition Takana Mitsuo’ - Seal: ‘Hikari’. ‘Lacquer artist Wajima Ryûsaku’ - Seal: ‘Ryûsaku’. Mitsuo Takana was born 1956 in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture. He won several awards during exhibitions like: Ishikawa Contemporary Art Exhibition, Japan Artisans' Association Exhibition and the well-known Nitten Exhibition. Dimensions: Height 57.48 in/146 cm, Total width 66.92 in/170 cm (2 x 33.46 in/85 cm), Depth 1.10 in/2.8 cm. Weight 56.21 lb/25.5 kg. Wajima lacquerware...

Ink (Sumi) on paper. Signature and Seal read: Kishi Ganku It is backed with paper covered in gold and silver flake. Kishi Ganku (1749 or 1756-1839) was the...

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 four-panel Japanese Byobu folding screen depicting a floral scene with birds. Japan, C.1950 Showa Period An attractive example, beautifully h...

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...