Japanese Two-Panel Screen: Bamboo in the Moonlight on Silver

Kano School painting, of the edge of a bamboo grove in early winter snow with very fine gold mist. Mineral pigments and gold dust on mulberry paper with 18th century brocade.

A full moon illuminating an ancient gnarled plum tree laden with snow covered blossoms. Mineral pigments on gold leaf with a silk brocade border and black lacquer trim with beautiful...

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.

Symbolizing the Sun, gold is often used in shrines and temples in Japan. Gold has been extensively recognized to represent wealth, while bamboo is said to bring good luck due to its ability to regenerate in the forest. A beautiful composition of the two together...

Serene Japanese late Taisho period early Showa period two-panel byobu screen featuring a colorful bamboo loquat landscape with a butterfly. Beautifully crafted in the Nihonga school ...

Antique Japanese 6 panel screen from the early Edo period (C1650). One of a pair (both available). This magnificent golden screen shows...

Six-panel screen from the Tosa school painted with ink on gold leaf depicting a relaxing oriental landscape with pagodas, figures on boats and a beautiful sun in the sky. The screen ...

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...