A FINE KANO SCHOOL SIX-PANEL BYOBU (FOLDING SCREEN) DEPICTING DUCKS IN A WINTER LANDSCAPE

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A FINE KANO SCHOOL SIX-PANEL BYOBU (FOLDING SCREEN) DEPICTING DUCKS IN A WINTER LANDSCAPE Japan, 18th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Ink, watercolors, gouache, and gold leaf on paper. Mounted on silk brocade on six lacquered wood panels with metal fittings. Finely painted with a large willow softly dusted with snow, surrounded by blossoming camellias and Japanese chrysanthemum (nihon-giku), beside gently rippling waters where a small group of ducks and waterfowls swim, accompanied by a pair perched on a willow branch and two sparrows in flight above the scene. SIZE 106.1 x 370.4 cm The Kano school of painters, an artistic group composed of Kano male relatives as well as talented students who were granted the family name. The Kano school provided paintings for temples and palaces in Japan’s capital cities for generations. The artists prided themselves on their knowledge of Chinese painting styles, which they adapted for Japanese tastes. In fact, the early Kano school drew inspiration from the eminent Chinese landscape painters of the Song dynasty. Over time, however, the finely modulated ink outlines characteristic of this tradition were increasingly combined with gold leaf and the richly decorative coloring of the indigenous Yamato-e school, noted for its seasonal motifs. The deliberately arranged composition, in which the willow bends toward the center, reflects the influence of celebrated works produced in Kyoto by Tan’yu and Sansetsu in the early seventeenth century. The execution of this work, however, likely dates to at least a century later. Auction comparison: Compare a pair of closely related six-panel byobu (folding screen) depicting a flowering cherry tree in spring with several birds among peony and iris summer blossoms, Edo period, 18th century, 122.5 x 280 cm, at Bonhams, Fine Japanese Art, London, 16 May 2013, lot 427 (sold for GBP 6,250 or approx. EUR 10,300 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).

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