Garments hung on screens

Historical period(s)
Edo period, first half 17th century
Medium
Gold and color on paper
Dimensions
H x W (.17): 158.9 x 353.2 cm (62 9/16 x 139 1/16 in) H x W (.18): 150.6 x 353.1 cm (59 5/16 x 139 in)
Geography
Japan
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1905.17-18
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Screens (six-panel)

Keywords
Edo period (1615 - 1868), geisha, Japan
Provenance

To 1905
Thomas E. Waggaman (1839-1906), Washington, DC, to 1905 [1]

From 1905 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased at the sale of the Waggaman Collection, American Art Association, New York, NY, January 25-February 3, 1905 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Screen List, pg. 29, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[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.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Thomas E. Waggaman 1839-1906
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
American Art Association (C.L. Freer source) established 1883

Label

This pair of six-panel folding screens depicts assorted women's garments draped over two folding screens. The stylish kosode, forerunners of the kimono, were sewn from black silk with stenciled gold-leaf decoration. Red silk linings show at the robes' edges.


The scene probably represents luxurious goods belonging to a fashionable female entertainer in Kyoto. The garments show the efflorescence of textile decoration that paralleled the popularity of decorated Shino and Oribe wares from Mino. A screen like this one would have been displayed in a house of entertainment or in the home of a warrior or wealthy merchant, where Mino ceramics would also have been used to serve meals and tea.

Published References
  • Zaigai hiho [(Japanese Paintings in Western Collections]. 3 vols., Tokyo. vol. 1: pt. II, p. 67 (Shobyo-ga, Rimpa, bunjin-ga).
  • Keiko Kawamoto. Nihon byobue shusei. 18 vols., Tokyo, 1977-1982. vol. 14: pl. 94.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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