A Magnificent Antique Folding 8-Panel Panoramic Japanese Screen (Byobu) Featuring Scenes from Daily Life
This delightfully painted 8-panel storied screen on rice paper features dramatic expanses of dark sea painted in striking contrast to its many wonderfully curvy gold leaf-covered shorelines; and the painted panels are a true example of sansui, i.e. a landscape painting that is a mix of mountain and water elements. Beyond those geographical features, these large detailed paintings on panels include scenes of several kinds of boats, green mountains and hills, many different kinds of people engaged in various activities (farmers, hunters, pilgrims, fishermen, religious, etc.), a family picnic on an island, distinguished homes for the wealthy and simple village thatched-roof homes for peasants, a Buddhist temple (tera) and monastery, a multi-tiered red pagoda, a tall decorative arch and various miscellaneous scenes of village life in ancient Japan. The painting derives from the Tosa School of Japanese painting devoted to yamato-e paintings (paintings of subjects from ancient Japan, rather than paintings based on any other ancient culture, most notably China). For more on these such delicately painted Japanese screens, see Brisset and Terada, eds., Japanese Screens: Through a Break in the Clouds.
Height: 4' 6"; and each panel is 18" across for a total span of 12'