Japanese Screen with Landscape in Gold Leaf

Japanese Two Panel Screen: Mountain Landscape with Calligraphy. Late Edo (c. 1850) painting of a dramatic mountainside carved by a waterfall with a crane flying in the foreground an...

Japanese Two Panel Screen: Trees in Floral Landscape, Edo period painting (mid 19th century) of pine and other trees amongst flowers, with bamboo shoots on the right panel, and white...

Sumi (ink) painting of bulls next to a stream with minimal colors on mulberry paper with silk brocade border.  

Mineral pigments on gold leaf with brocade border. Calligraphy and sketching on back paper.

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...

Suiboku is a style of ink painting that is reminicent of the way calligraphers paint. Masterfully painted Muromachi Period (1336-1573) painting, unique in style and strength for the period with very bold lines. Sesshu Toyo...

Seven graceful Egrets perched upon very vibrant pine. Representing strength, luck, and longevity. A harmonious balance in nature. Mineral pigments on Mulberry paper with dark brown ...

Japanese six-panel screen: Winter landscape with flowering plum, Meiji period (1868-1912) painting of a full moon with wild grasses between river's edge and a snow covered plum tree ...

Japanese two-panel screen, deco landscape with river fans. Modern scene of a 12th century festival in Kyoto in which fans are sent down the Kamo River and caught downstream. Taisho (...

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...