Pair of Folding Six-Panel Japanese Screens Depicting ‘The Four Accomplishments’ Early 18th C Edo Period

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A fine and detailed pair of folding six-panel Japanese screens depicting ‘The Four
Accomplishments’ (kinkishoga) through Chinese Court scenes. Ink, … Read more A fine and detailed pair of folding six-panel Japanese screens depicting ‘The Four
Accomplishments’ (kinkishoga) through Chinese Court scenes. Ink, color and gold
leaf on paper, mounted in textile and frame. Kano school, Edo period, early 18th
century.

Through extensive landscapes of towering pines, rocky ground with bamboo and
maple, distant mountains, floating clouds and bodies of water, these two screens
depict four scenes of human activity each alluding to one of the four pursuits
deemed appropriate by a cultured Chinese gentleman’s ideal.
The left side of the first screen shows two ladies arriving in a wasen (traditional
boat), the boatman standing with his boating pole, holding steady on the fast-
moving river. In the center two gentlemen play Go (Accomplishment One), the
game being carefully watched by a gentleman, lady and young boy with two
attendants walking towards them with refreshments. The right side of the screen
shows an extensive pagoda and terrace with checkered floors and sloping roofs
occupied with eight courtly figures, the main room with a lady playing a Guqin
(Accomplishment Two) to her audience, the instrument lying across her lap, a large
landscape painting behind.

The second screen shows a substantial summer court scene of a pagoda and
terraces on a lake. The left side shows two attendants on an open terrace with a
checkered floor with books and works of art on display, in the foreground ladies
and gentlemen socialize amongst rocks and pines. The center shows gentlemen
practicing Calligraphy (Accomplishment Three) around a low wood table
accompanied by a young boy, while a lady looks on from the terrace above.

The right side shows ladies discussing and appreciating a Scroll Painting
(Accomplishment Four) in an open room inside the pagoda above the lake, in the
foreground two boys play with books and a gentleman and boy stroll up from the
lake shore.

Both screens at once show peaceful and beautiful settings combined with the
serious pursuit of study through the Four Accomplishments. The screens have been
painted by a very skilled artist with high details throughout the paintings
particularly in the facial expressions.

Approximately: Length 111’’ x Height 49’’. See less