Japanese Silver Screen Pair, Meiji Period, Herons & Plovers, Shijo School

Phoenix and Peacocks. A pair of six-panel Japanese folding screens by Tsunetake Yotei (n.d.) First half of the 18th century. The signature reads 67 year old Tsunetake. The seals read: -Tsunetake no in, -Yotei, -Seishin Dimensions: Each screen – H. 69” x W. 149” (176 cm x 378 cm) A pair of Kano Grand Picture (Waga) screens depicting phoenix and peacocks rich with symbolic meaning. Dating to the first half of the 18th century, from the Kobikicho Kano school in Edo, this pair of folding...

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...

Kishi Renzan (1804-1859) Tigers Pair of six-panel Japanese screens. Ink and gold-leaf on paper. In this monochromatic pair of six-fold Japanese screens painted on gold-leaf, Kishi Renzan has created a breathtaking composition of a family of tigers. The screens are filled with a sense of drama which is conveyed by both the subject matter and the wet, expressive brushwork. The running mountain stream and the towering waterfall allude to refreshment during the summer months and we feel the tiger families familiarity and security within their environment. Renzan’s master, Kishi Ganku...

A six-panel Japanese folding screen from the leading Maruyama-Shijo artist Okamoto Toyohiko (1773-1845). Simply featuring three deer and a few sprigs of foliage on a sumptuous gold-leaf background this work emphasizes naturalistic expression and a masterful use of negative space. Reduced to its most basic elements, the blank spaces inspire imagination and evoke the smells, sounds and even the weather of the scene. Whilst deer are traditionally depicted in association with autumn, here the green growth on the tops of the foliage indicates the season of spring. The work references Maruyama Okyo’s two-panel deer screen...

Fantastic Japanese late Meiji period two-panel byobu screen by Hashimoto Koshu. The large screen features two white geese amid brightly colored reeds. The symbolism of geese and reeds was introduced to Japan from China in the 13th century. This was a popular subject for Japanese zen artists of the period. Beautifully crafted with exceptional brush strokes and details. Made with natural pigments in dramatic vivid colors of white, pink, and mint green on a silk background of gilt. Circa 1900 with artist seal on bottom right corner. Koshu studied Western art under...

Stunning Japanese Meiji period six-panel large screen. Featuring blooms of spring flowering white, pink, and red peonies with butterflies over a gilt background. Made in the Nihonga ...

Japanese six-panel screen: Plovers in flight over coastal landscape. Late Edo - Early Meiji period, circa 1870, painting of plovers flying over cresting waves. Sumi ink on mulberry p...

Large Japanese Meiji period six-panel screen depicting a winter landscape with a Chinese sage visiting friends in a country villa. Ink and vivid color pigments on mulberry paper mounted to a gilt background. Painted in the 19th century Kano school...