Chinese Paintings and Screens

The cranes by the river painting of this two-panel screen is hand-painted in watercolor, on squares of gold leaf which are applied by hand to the paper base over carefully jointed wo...

Flowers of the four seasons Isoi Joshin (1883-1964) Pair of six-panel Japanese screens Ink, pigment, lacquer and silver leaf on pa...

Japanese two panel screen: Moon Viewing, painting of two noblewomen admiring the full moon outdoors. Extremely sophisticated execution of painting ove...

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...

Rimpa floral scene. Pigment on gilded silk, signature and seal read: Hattori Shunyo. Bold colors and strong design elements combined with the trademark tarashikomi (diluted elements created when water is applied to the surface before or after pigments causing them to diffuse) exhibit the artists deep devotion to this important Japanese painting tradition. Notes about artist: Hattori Shunyo (b. 1883) was an artist from Kyoto who graduated the (now) Kyoto Municipal University of Art and fell under the circle of Yamamoto Shunkyo...

Japanese six-panel screen: Women of the Court in the Garden. Edo period (circa 1700) painting of an early Kano school subject matter: nobility socializing in a coutryard garden. Deta...

Signature reads: Kanshin. Mineral pigments painted on gold dusted mulberry paper with a silk brocade border.  

A Japanese silk Suijaku hanging scroll beautifully presented in a custom wood shadow box frame from Edo period (circa 18-19th century). The scroll, surmounted on golden brocade was painted in fine details with gouache, ink and gold powder highlight, served as a Suijaku mandala for the worshippers. Honji Suijaku is a complicated religious concept uniquely developed in Japan. It mixed and hybrid the Buddism deities with native shinto spirits (known as Kami), which were seen as local manifestations (the suijaku, literally means a "trace") of Buddhist deities (the honji literally the original ground). The original idea may lie with the synergetic strategy to spread Buddism by making it more relatable to the local population who had already worshiped Shinto gods. The paradigm, adopted in the 10th century from an orignal Chinese concept, remained a defining feature of Japanese religious life up to the end of the Edo period (1868). Instead of being confined to deities, its application was often extended to historical figures as shown on this scroll. This long hanging scroll depicts an arrangement of 21 figures including Buddhism and Shinto deities as well as two historical figures on the bottom. Each figure was name-tagged in Kanji for easy identification by the worshippers. It was used in the temple or shrine so that when the worshipper prayed in front the mandala, they prayed simultaneously to all the deities. On the very top, sits Nyorai-Kojin, a hybrid deity of Nyorai Buddha and Kojin, the kaki for fire, stove and kitchen. From the top to bottom and left to right, here is the list of the deities: Kanon with Thousand Hands, Kanon with Willow Branch, Monju Bosatsu...

Mineral pigments on gold leaf on mulberry paper with a silk brocade border.

Yamato-e painting depicting a great land and sea battle, the Battle of Yashima, March 22, 1185. The Heike were flushed from the mountainous and prote...

Kawahara Keiga (1786 - c. 1860) Two Dutch ships anchored in the bay of Nagasaki Sumi ink and pigment on silk, H. 27 x W. 41 cm (excl. frame) Comes framed, see image. ?Based o...

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...