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Lot Essay
These screens take us to the heart of Kyoto, the dry bed of the Kamo River where it crosses Shijo, or Fourth Avenue. The riverbed was a fairground of temporary structures housing entertainment of every kind. The left screen takes us up into the foothills of the Eastern Hills (Higashiyama) for a convivial picnic beneath cherry blossoms discretely screened from view by textile hangings. The usual suspects gather for the festivities: a dissolute priest fondled by a pretty young girl, and an assortment of dandies. At the far left edge, passersby avert their gaze or appear oblivious to the plight of beggars. Five panels are given over to an elaborate stage with dancers from Sado Island encircling a shamisen player. The audience includes ladies from the palace, screened from view by bamboo blinds. At the bottom, there are further attractions, notably a cage with a tiger and, to the far right, a booth for archery practice.
On the right screen there are several more Kabuki theaters, a small puppet theater and, at the far right, a stage for a Noh play. Along the banks of the river, boys are fishing and there are vendors for tea and for dango rice dumplings. The bottom register features curiosities: from left to right, a woman twice the size of a normal person, acrobats performing on a tightrope attached to a tall white pole, a trainer of foreign dogs wearing an exotic foreign costume, an armless woman who shoots a bow with her feet, and a gigantic caged porcupine.
For a seventeenth-century version of this theme in the Fenollosa-Weld Collection in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (11.4591, 11.4592), see Anne Nishimura Morse et al., MFA Highlights: Arts of Japan (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 2008), 142-43.
On the right screen there are several more Kabuki theaters, a small puppet theater and, at the far right, a stage for a Noh play. Along the banks of the river, boys are fishing and there are vendors for tea and for dango rice dumplings. The bottom register features curiosities: from left to right, a woman twice the size of a normal person, acrobats performing on a tightrope attached to a tall white pole, a trainer of foreign dogs wearing an exotic foreign costume, an armless woman who shoots a bow with her feet, and a gigantic caged porcupine.
For a seventeenth-century version of this theme in the Fenollosa-Weld Collection in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (11.4591, 11.4592), see Anne Nishimura Morse et al., MFA Highlights: Arts of Japan (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 2008), 142-43.