Paravento Byōbu - Carta, Legno, A two-panel Japanese folding screen depicting deer on a gold dust ground - Signed Shūkei (Sōkei) - Giappone - Edo (early 19th century)

A Japanese two-panel folding screen painted on paper with applications of gold powder, depicting a pair of deer emerging among tall grasses swaying in the wind. The two animals are rendered with great care and stand out against a background of paper enriched with gold powder.

The screen is signed Shūkei (Sōkei), a painter active within the Kanō school, and bears the honorific title Hōgen, traditionally conferred upon artists of high rank.

Provenance: private US collection previously purchased from Naga Antiques (New York) as showed on the label placed on the back of the screen.

The Kanō school of painting was one of the most important and long-lasting artistic traditions in Japan. It was composed primarily of male members of the Kanō family, alongside particularly talented pupils who were sometimes granted permission to adopt the family surname.

For generations, the Kanō school was commissioned to produce large decorative cycles for temples, castles, and palaces in Japan’s major capitals, becoming the official painting style of the aristocratic elites.

The screen can also be easily mounted on a wall or used as a room divider.

Byōbu (屏風), literally “wind protection screens,” are traditional Japanese folding screens originally created to divide spaces and today appreciated above all as striking wall-mounted paintings.

---The byobu is in good condition, with wear, stains, some losses and imperfections to the paper across the surface and along the panel joints, consistent with age. Please refer to the pictures for further details.

The item will be carefully packed and shipped via DHL or FedEx, accompanied by the original certificate of authenticity issued by Mastromauro Japanese art gallery based in Milan, Italy.
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