DOI Artikel:
Harada, Jirō: Old Japanese folding screens
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43448#0128
Old Japanese Folding Screens
the street. Byobu have had their place among
the indispensable articles on various ceremonial
occasions. It has been customary, for instance, at
the wedding ceremony to use silver or pure white
paper byobu with such felicitous designs as a stork
and turtle, or pine, bamboo and plum, since the
time-honoured custom and traditions of our country
have made the people look upon these things as
omens of happiness. Plain white screens were also
used in celebrating the birth of a child or on the
occasion of seppziku (self-despatch) by a samurai.
These screens were undecorated with painting
or designs of any kind. The custom of inverting
screens at the time of a funeral is still practised
by many people. It is recorded that the Shogun
Iyemitsu had the famous artist Matabei brought
to Yedo to paint byobu, makimono and the like,
which were to be a part of his
daughter’s dowry when she was
married. For a long time the
custom of including byobu and
other paintings in the dowry
prevailed among our people.
Although in olden times
screens were constructed on the
same lines as they are to-day, it
is certain that they were much
heavier in construction. In the
earlier stages after their intro¬
duction into Japan, they used
to be large and comparatively
clumsy, some of their “bones”
—as the spars of the frame¬
work were called—being quite
two inches thick. The older
ones could only be folded in
one way, as in place of hinges
a piece of leather covered
with cloth was generally fas¬
tened to the frame. Sometimes
bamboo or wood laths were
nailed on to the leather to add
to its durability.
These strongly built byobu
generally consisted of four, six,
or eight panels, and excellent
specimens of the Tempyo period
are to be found in the wonder¬
ful Imperial collection of
ancient art at Nara known as
the Shoso-in Repository, which
contains, among other priceless
being described in the catalogue as decorated with
pictures, three with birds’ feathers, one with paint-
ings of birds, while sixty-five are specified as
being made of bark fibre fabric, and ten of ivy fibre
fabric. Among them are also found some after
the To style (that of the Chinese Tang dynasty,
618-967), which seem to be of later production
and which have cord hinges in place of leather.
An excellent example of this style may also be seen
in the Seiryoden, one of the Emperor’s palaces in
Kyoto, and also at temples in Nara.
The older screens were covered with silk or
other fabric upon which pictures were painted or
pasted. Some authorities claim that the custom
of mounting pictures on screens existed before the
people took to making them into kakemono. There
seem to have existed in Japan also screens of
treasures, one hundred folding
screens, twenty-one of them
TWO PANELS OF A SIX-FOI.D SCREEN IN THE SHOSO-IN REPOSITORY
( From “ Toyei Shiko ”)
IM
the street. Byobu have had their place among
the indispensable articles on various ceremonial
occasions. It has been customary, for instance, at
the wedding ceremony to use silver or pure white
paper byobu with such felicitous designs as a stork
and turtle, or pine, bamboo and plum, since the
time-honoured custom and traditions of our country
have made the people look upon these things as
omens of happiness. Plain white screens were also
used in celebrating the birth of a child or on the
occasion of seppziku (self-despatch) by a samurai.
These screens were undecorated with painting
or designs of any kind. The custom of inverting
screens at the time of a funeral is still practised
by many people. It is recorded that the Shogun
Iyemitsu had the famous artist Matabei brought
to Yedo to paint byobu, makimono and the like,
which were to be a part of his
daughter’s dowry when she was
married. For a long time the
custom of including byobu and
other paintings in the dowry
prevailed among our people.
Although in olden times
screens were constructed on the
same lines as they are to-day, it
is certain that they were much
heavier in construction. In the
earlier stages after their intro¬
duction into Japan, they used
to be large and comparatively
clumsy, some of their “bones”
—as the spars of the frame¬
work were called—being quite
two inches thick. The older
ones could only be folded in
one way, as in place of hinges
a piece of leather covered
with cloth was generally fas¬
tened to the frame. Sometimes
bamboo or wood laths were
nailed on to the leather to add
to its durability.
These strongly built byobu
generally consisted of four, six,
or eight panels, and excellent
specimens of the Tempyo period
are to be found in the wonder¬
ful Imperial collection of
ancient art at Nara known as
the Shoso-in Repository, which
contains, among other priceless
being described in the catalogue as decorated with
pictures, three with birds’ feathers, one with paint-
ings of birds, while sixty-five are specified as
being made of bark fibre fabric, and ten of ivy fibre
fabric. Among them are also found some after
the To style (that of the Chinese Tang dynasty,
618-967), which seem to be of later production
and which have cord hinges in place of leather.
An excellent example of this style may also be seen
in the Seiryoden, one of the Emperor’s palaces in
Kyoto, and also at temples in Nara.
The older screens were covered with silk or
other fabric upon which pictures were painted or
pasted. Some authorities claim that the custom
of mounting pictures on screens existed before the
people took to making them into kakemono. There
seem to have existed in Japan also screens of
treasures, one hundred folding
screens, twenty-one of them
TWO PANELS OF A SIX-FOI.D SCREEN IN THE SHOSO-IN REPOSITORY
( From “ Toyei Shiko ”)
IM