Court Ladies among cherry trees (left); Cherry blossoms, a high fence and retainers (right)
date: label: Date
content: 1590-1640
label: Period
content: Edo period
name: label: Artist
content: Style of Tawaraya Sotatsu 俵屋宗達 (fl. ca. 1600-1643)
notes: label: School/Tradition
content: Rinpa
label: Description
content: The right-hand screen (F1903.101) shows a group of six court ladies standing under cherry trees. At the extreme right stands one of the two-wheeled ox-carts (goshogoruma) in which the ladies have come to the grove, and the tops of two other carts appear in the foreground at little to the left.
label: Description
content: The left-hand screen (F1903.102) is divided diagonally by a fence made of bundles of dried stalks of the hagi (bush clover), which is modeled in low relief in gesso and gilded; this fence encloses the garden where the cherry trees grow, laden with many white blossoms. Outside the fence in the lower left-hand corner is a group of white-robed male attendants fast asleep. A long-handled higasa (parasol) in a white cloth cover rests against the fence.
label: Label
content: The Tale of Genji is a lengthy fictional narrative written by Murasaki Shikibu in the eleventh century. Presumably drawing from her real experiences at court, Lady Murasaki crafted an intricate tale of the life and loves of the fictional Prince Genji, offering broader, strongly Buddhist-influenced reflections on karmic cycles, the futility of desire, and the melancholy passage of life.
label: Label
content: Illustrated versions of the tale began to appear in the twelfth century and were generally codified by the seventeenth century. These screens refer to the "Asagao" (Morning glory) chapter, in which Prince Genji visits the quarters of Princess Asagao, whom he has unsuccessfully pursued in the past, and is again adroitly spurned by the princess. The attendants depicted waiting outside a fence and parked carriages are references to Genji's visit to the princess. Although subtle, these visual hints had long been standard in illustrated versions of The Tale of Genji and were enough to remind the literate Japanese viewer of this episode.
label: Label
content: Only a small portion of the total composition in the two screens is actually devoted to a recognizable narrative, in contrast to the dominance of two large masses of form-a curving ground line in the left screen and an angular, diagonal fence in the right screen. These may be attempts by the painter to suggest the conflicting emotions of the described encounter-the prince's hopeful arrival and his subsequent rejection.
label: Provenance
content: To 1903
label: Provenance
content: Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1903 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1903 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunkio Matsuki in 1903 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Screen List, L. 71, pg. 18, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Painting the Classics: Japanese Screens (November 10, 2018 to October 14, 2019)
label: Exhibition History
content: East of Eden: Gardens in Asian Art (February 24 to May 13, 2007)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Bunkio Matsuki 松木文恭 (1867-1940) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: cherry tree
label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: cherry blossom
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
label: Topic
content: attendant
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1903.101-102
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink, color, gold, and silver on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (.101): 165.4 x 378 cm (65 1/8 x 148 13/16 in)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (.102): 165.3 x 378.3 cm (65 1/16 x 148 15/16 in)