Scenes from the Tales of Genji

View Similar Items

Important Japanese six-fold screen depicting The Tale of The Genji, 17th century

Oriental Decorative 8 Panel Silk Embroidery Peacock Scene Room Divider Screen

Wood Wall Panel from Indonesia, Mid 20th Century

Pair of Japanese Screens: Ink paintings of peacocks on gold leaf by Imao Keinen

A Set Of 4 Screens / Room Dividers. c 1860 - 1880

Set of Five Chinese Antique Screens Ming Style

Chinese Antique Screen Set of 5 Cube Ming Design

Pair of Chinese Crackle Lacquer Courtyard Doors, c. 1800

Chinese Twelve-Panel Red Lacquer Coromandel Screen of Xiwangmu

Pair of Chinese Antique Screens, Doors, Orchids and Pomegranates

Chinese Antique Screen Set of 4 Ming Style with Flower Pegs

Pair of Antique Double Sided Red and Black Chinese Screens

About the Item

This important screen displays an elaborate selection of scenes from the eleventh-century novel The Tales of Genji. The finely detailed figures interspersed throughout the composition illustrate scenes from different chapters of Genji, but are unified by the theme of nature, more specifically, the link between nature and the protagonists of the novel. Two keys to the connections are the full moon on the upper left and the bridge on the upper right of the screen.

The full moon on the upper left refers to the romantic boat scene on a winter night in the Ukifune chapter, seen in the upper center. Here Niou is seated in the boat with Ukifune and, while looking at the hills bathed in moon light, they pledge undying love to each other.

In the Asagao chapter the moon appears again as Genji and Asagao look out at the garden on a winter night and admire the fallen snow. Genji asks the page girls to go out in the garden and roll a snowball, and he and Asagao enjoy the scene bathed in moonlight.

The moon connects these two scenes, which also share the same season and the nocturnal setting. Central to both cases is the joy of love when looking at nature together, specifically on a winter night.

The bridge in the upper right corner refers to the Ukifune love boat scene, which takes place close to Uji Bridge. The bridge is also associated with the excursion to Sumiyoshi Shrine in the Miotsukushi chapter, seen on the right. Waiting inside his carriage, Genji wants to write a love letter and his servant Koremitsu hands him a writing box and brushes. The curved bridge on the screen refers to both scenes, the Uji Bridge and the Sumiyoshi Bridge; the red torii gate in front of the bridge refers to the Sumiyoshi Shrine. Bridges with their many poetic allusions became symbols for travel in nature in the literal and visual culture of the Heian and later period.

The last two scenes that balance the composition on the bottom left and right corners are, on the bottom left, the emperor being presented with pheasants taken in a hunt, bringing nature to the palace; and, on the bottom right, the poignant scene from the Yomogiu chapter where Prince Genji visits his long-lost love, the Safflower Princess, who suffers from poverty in a run-down mansion. Here Prince Genji is led by his servant Koremitsu, who guides him to the dilapidated house through the overgrown garden.

In all of these scenes, we see how the figures negotiate with nature and how nature relates to love, to imperial offerings, to travel and even to poverty. What at first seems to be a set of non-connected scenes are in fact expertly selected moments in the novel that connect by themes from across the panels of the screen.

The screen is attributed to Tosa Mitsuyoshi through similarities in style, facial features, and golden clouds. The golden clouds are made of two types of gold—gold leaf bordered with gold wash on gofun—and the features of the faces are superbly expressive. Mitsuyoshi and his atelier painted a number of Genji screens during his lifetime and examples by him exist in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Honolulu Academy of Arts, the Kyoto National Museum and the Idemitsu Museum of Art.

Dimensions:
Height: 63.51 in (161.3 cm)Width: 146.58 in (372.3 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Gold,Silver
Place of Origin:
Japan
Period:
18th Century and Earlier
Date of Manufacture:
Momoyama Period (1568-1615), early 17th C
Condition:
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
Seller: T-31691stDibs: U10103189885

Antique 17th Century Japanese Edo Paintings and Screens

Materials

Paint, Paper

Important Japanese six-fold screen depicting The Tale of The Genji, 17th century

$43,650

Oriental Decorative 8 Panel Silk Embroidery Peacock Scene Room Divider Screen

Located in Rockaway, NJ

Oriental Chineese decorative 8 panel silk embroidery peacock scene room divider screen.

Category

20th Century Paintings and Screens

Materials

Fabric, Silk

Oriental Decorative 8 Panel Silk Embroidery Peacock Scene Room Divider Screen

$3,000

Wood Wall Panel from Indonesia, Mid 20th Century

Located in New York, NY

A vintage wood panel from Indonesia, circa 1920. Hand-carved teak wood, with its original grey/blue color paint in the frame, naturally distressed b...

Category

Vintage 1920s Indonesian Arts and Crafts Paintings and Screens

Materials

Teak

Wood Wall Panel from Indonesia, Mid 20th Century

$720 Sale Price

20% Off

Pair of Japanese Screens: Ink paintings of peacocks on gold leaf by Imao Keinen

By Imao Keinen

Located in Prahran, Victoria

A pair of screens by Imao Keinen featuring peacocks painted in ink on gold leaf. Lacquered wood frame, brocade border, incised copper hardware. Dimensions: H 175cm x W 352cm Biogr...

Category

Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Paintings and Screens

Materials

Gold Leaf

Pair of Japanese Screens: Ink paintings of peacocks on gold leaf by Imao Keinen

$30,000 / set

A Set Of 4 Screens / Room Dividers. c 1860 - 1880

Located in Kastrup, DK

A set of 4 screens, made in elm wood. Lacquer decorated in polychrome. Panels decorated with vases, flowers, etc. Former screen wall from house in Shanxi pro...

Category