A six-fold paper screen painted in ink andcolour on a gold leaf ground depicting a willow tree with various shikishi and tanzaku (poem slips).
Japan, 17th century, Edo period.
Provenance: a private Italian collection.
An old Japanese collector's label on the reverse inscribed:
(collection number) 142 a small old six-fold gold screen with a painting of a willow and poem slips.
Shikishi and tanzaku are square or rectangular sheets of paper used for calligraphic poems or paintings. During the mid-Heian and Kamakura periods, such papers, termed shikishigata, were inscribed with poetic calligraphy and attached to the upper portions of screens or sliding door panels. Their verses coordinated with the paintings to which they were affixed. Later, shikishi came to be used independently for calligraphy and paintings. Often these squares are highly decorated with mica or coloured patterns overlaid with gold or silver cut into small pieces or sprinkled like dust.
Screens
A two-fold screen with the Uji River and its bridge
An eight-fold screen depicting flowers of the four seasons
A six-fold screen with a cherry tree
A two-fold screen with a river landscape
A six-fold screen with a covey of uzura and chicks
A six-fold screen with grape vines
A two-fold screen with chrysanthemums
A pair of six-fold paper screens with the Plains at Musashino
A pair of four-fold screens with kuri flowers
A two-fold screen with court ladies
Four fusuma by Nagasawa Rosetsu
A six-fold screen with autumn flowers and grasses
A six-fold paper screen with poem slips
A pair of six-fold screens with scattered fans
A paper screen with the Uji river and its bridge
A pair of six-fold screens with poem slips from the 17th century
A two-fold lacquer screen with a persimmon tree
A six-fold paper screen with the Plains at Musashino
