Decorated Fans
date: label: Date
content: early 17th century
label: Period
content: Edo period
notes: label: Label
content: Folding screens mounted with scattered fans, each painted on a piece of separate paper, were popular in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century, and their production continued into modern times. These screens were appreciated for displaying together a variety of small paintings in an attractive arrangement to suggest the image of fans floating through the air or on water.
label: Label
content: These screens' fans are painted directly over a background of scattered shapes of gold and silver leaf to give the illusion that they are mounted fans. The screens employ mainly flower and plant motifs, some of which have seasonal associations: cherry blossoms with spring; chrysanthemums and red maple leaves with autumn. Other designs are associated with famous sites like Mount Fuji and the Uji Bridge, which are also themes of poetry. Three paintings in monochromatic ink contrast with the gold, silver, and colored images on the other fans and also illustrate the artistic studio's familiarity with themes from Chinese painting. The two fans with striped patterns appear to be related to textile patterns for kimonos. The style of the paintings suggests that they might have been produced by painters of the Kano school, a leading group of professional painters.
label: Provenance
content: To 1897
label: Provenance
content: Yamanaka & Company, New York to 1897 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1897 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1897 [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. 12, pg. 2, 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: Japanese Screens (March 2007 to January 3, 2016)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Fans (April 6, 1984 to October 18, 1984)
label: Exhibition History
content: Fans (May 18, 1980 to October 13, 1981)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: fan
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
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: F1897.93-94
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Color, ink, and gold on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (each): 148 x 336 cm (58 1/4 x 132 5/16 in)