Japanese Screen Painting On Paper And Gold Leaf. Bijin Firefly Hunt. Edo Period.

Screen of 2 panels, watercolor on paper. The bottom is covered with square gold leaf. The scene depicts young women in the garden, one of them capturing fireflies. The charming subject is unusual for this type of screens which are always decorated with warriors, animals, plants or landscapes. The uprights are in red lacquered wood, and are reinforced and decorated with gilded copper plates and chiselled with foliage on a nanako background, these plates are thick and of the best quality of carving and gilding. This screen has fortunately never been restored, the various accidents are all clearly visible and their restoration does not present any technical difficulty for a perfect job. The drawings are precise and of great elegance, which announces the brushwork of an excellent artist. The feet, the hands, the faces, the trunk of the tree and the leaves, everything is perfect. We have not researched the artist but we can do so on request. Japanese work from the Edo period, possibly Meiji. Height: 172 cm Width: 179 cm. A very rare and lovely subject.