Description

An elegant Japanese six-panel folding screen (byōbu) depicting a tranquil waterside landscape inhabited by a pair of ducks beneath soaring songbirds. Executed in mineral pigments with extensive gold leaf on paper, the composition unfolds across a luminous gold ground, where carefully arranged seasonal flora and rolling hills create a harmonious celebration of nature throughout the year.

Anchoring the left side of the composition is an ancient pine tree, symbolizing longevity, steadfastness, and endurance. Nearby grows sasa (low-growing bamboo), a traditional emblem of resilience and prosperity. Blooming chrysanthemums add the beauty of autumn and represent longevity and nobility, while delicate plum blossoms emerge near the center of the composition, heralding the arrival of spring and the Japanese New Year. Together these plants form a poetic cycle of the seasons, a theme frequently explored in classical Kano school painting.

The pair of ducks gliding peacefully upon the water symbolize marital harmony, fidelity, and domestic happiness, while cranes or other waterfowl soaring overhead evoke longevity, good fortune, and the changing of the seasons. The winding shoreline, distant mountains, and reflective waters create a sense of depth and serenity, balancing decorative splendor with the refined naturalism for which Kano artists were celebrated.

The screen bears the pot seal of the Kano School, one of Japan’s most influential painting ateliers. Serving shoguns, daimyō, and aristocratic patrons for centuries, Kano artists perfected monumental decorative paintings that combined bold compositions with the elegance of classical Japanese aesthetics and Chinese-inspired landscape traditions. The restrained mineral palette against brilliant gold leaf is characteristic of high-quality Kano workshop production during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.

Seal: Kano School incensor seal

Edo period 1603 – 1868 Circa 1800’s

Dimensions: 67″ high × 145¼” wide