DOI article:
Harada, Jirō: Old Japanese folding screens
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43448#0136
Old Japanese Folding Screens
SIX-PANEL SCREEN
PAINTED BY MA-RUYAMA OKYO (1733-1795)
Castle, where a space of ground was enclosed by a
large number of byobu belonging to his wife and
Yodo-gimi, his favourite court lady. It is said
that by the paintings on the byobu the characters
of the two women were plainly discernible as they
thereby unmistakably revealed their taste.
Among our illustrations is a six-panel screen
with willow-trees and a bridge, which is attributed
to Kano Yeitoku (1543-1590). It is said to be one
of a hundred pairs of byobu that were painted by
Yeitoku and his pupils, and which were highly
prized by Hideyoshi among the wonderful
collections of byobu which adorned his famous
palace at Momoyama.
The paintings on some screens show extremely
minute detail involving endless patience on the
part of the painter. It is marvellous to see the
hundreds of tiny figures, each perfect in every
detail, in the Toyokuni festival already referred to.
Almost incredible was the amount of patience and
care exercised by Tosa Mitsuoki in painting a
scene from Gengi Monogatari on a low six-panel
screen in the Imperial Household Palace in Tokyo.
In this screen the figures in the interior of the
house were first painted most carefully and then
over all were drawn the very fine horizontal lines
of the misu (blind made of split bamboo) so as to
give the effect of seeing the interior through the
misu. However, one occasionally comes across
screens with very rough and scanty sketches. The
writer recalls an incident that occurred one day a
few years ago in the Seiyoken Hotel in Uyeno
Park, Tokyo, when Terazaki Kogyo and Fukui
Kotei, two well-known artists now living, after a
somewhat free flow of sake, executed a marvellous
piece of work on a pair of plain kin byobu. Kotei,
seeing a great temptation in the shining gold screen,
dipped his own handkerchief in sumi, or Japanese
ink, and with it he drew on one screen rocks and
large stalks of bamboo, finishing the picture by
adding the leaves of bamboo with ink on the tips of
his fingers. Kogyo followed Kotei and with his
handkerchief drew a plum-tree on the other one of
the pair, applying white for the blossoms with the
bottom of the hexagonal salt-dish that happened
to be near. The result was charming and is now
admired by many. Though no similar recorded
incident among ancient masters is now recalled by
the writer, there are to be found on some screens
extremely simple sketches which are in strong
contrast to mitsugwa, or minute painting.
In examining some of our illustrations, readers
may be at a loss to understand the reason for
using such bold designs on some of the large
screens used exclusively inside the house, since
they would seem to be out of all proportion to the
artistic needs of our small Japanese houses.
It must be remembered, however, that originally
most of these great screens with bold designs were
used, not in ordinary private houses, but in large
palaces with rooms of enormous size. When it is
realised that these byobu were used to screen the
walls, or to give a suitable background for the
dignity of a Shogun or a feudal lord, perhaps in
giving an® audience to his vassals, in a vast apart-
ment, and were seen from a considerable distance,
it will be understood how it was that the designs
had to be of such a bold character in order fully
to perform their function of decorations.
Harada Jiro.
122
SIX-PANEL SCREEN
PAINTED BY MA-RUYAMA OKYO (1733-1795)
Castle, where a space of ground was enclosed by a
large number of byobu belonging to his wife and
Yodo-gimi, his favourite court lady. It is said
that by the paintings on the byobu the characters
of the two women were plainly discernible as they
thereby unmistakably revealed their taste.
Among our illustrations is a six-panel screen
with willow-trees and a bridge, which is attributed
to Kano Yeitoku (1543-1590). It is said to be one
of a hundred pairs of byobu that were painted by
Yeitoku and his pupils, and which were highly
prized by Hideyoshi among the wonderful
collections of byobu which adorned his famous
palace at Momoyama.
The paintings on some screens show extremely
minute detail involving endless patience on the
part of the painter. It is marvellous to see the
hundreds of tiny figures, each perfect in every
detail, in the Toyokuni festival already referred to.
Almost incredible was the amount of patience and
care exercised by Tosa Mitsuoki in painting a
scene from Gengi Monogatari on a low six-panel
screen in the Imperial Household Palace in Tokyo.
In this screen the figures in the interior of the
house were first painted most carefully and then
over all were drawn the very fine horizontal lines
of the misu (blind made of split bamboo) so as to
give the effect of seeing the interior through the
misu. However, one occasionally comes across
screens with very rough and scanty sketches. The
writer recalls an incident that occurred one day a
few years ago in the Seiyoken Hotel in Uyeno
Park, Tokyo, when Terazaki Kogyo and Fukui
Kotei, two well-known artists now living, after a
somewhat free flow of sake, executed a marvellous
piece of work on a pair of plain kin byobu. Kotei,
seeing a great temptation in the shining gold screen,
dipped his own handkerchief in sumi, or Japanese
ink, and with it he drew on one screen rocks and
large stalks of bamboo, finishing the picture by
adding the leaves of bamboo with ink on the tips of
his fingers. Kogyo followed Kotei and with his
handkerchief drew a plum-tree on the other one of
the pair, applying white for the blossoms with the
bottom of the hexagonal salt-dish that happened
to be near. The result was charming and is now
admired by many. Though no similar recorded
incident among ancient masters is now recalled by
the writer, there are to be found on some screens
extremely simple sketches which are in strong
contrast to mitsugwa, or minute painting.
In examining some of our illustrations, readers
may be at a loss to understand the reason for
using such bold designs on some of the large
screens used exclusively inside the house, since
they would seem to be out of all proportion to the
artistic needs of our small Japanese houses.
It must be remembered, however, that originally
most of these great screens with bold designs were
used, not in ordinary private houses, but in large
palaces with rooms of enormous size. When it is
realised that these byobu were used to screen the
walls, or to give a suitable background for the
dignity of a Shogun or a feudal lord, perhaps in
giving an® audience to his vassals, in a vast apart-
ment, and were seen from a considerable distance,
it will be understood how it was that the designs
had to be of such a bold character in order fully
to perform their function of decorations.
Harada Jiro.
122