Collecting Japanese Antiques - Alistair Seton

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high-class dealers-and then you start saving! The great artists in the genre are mentioned in the chapter on Japan's Art Heritage while the photographs here show some of the wide variety of wonderful pieces still available.

      Not all screens are old (some are still made today) and the price differs greatly between works by famous artists (many thousands of dollars) and workshops where very ordinary commercial painting is done (a few zeros); those works are not great art. Indeed, some screens use printed designs, rather like printed wallpaper. These should be cheap, as Japanese prefer not to buy them.

      The condition of a screen matters a great deal. If the painting itself is undamaged, then other problems such as holes in the backing paper or a frame that needs repairing or refinishing can be fixed fairly easily in Japan and art centers in London, New York, and Los Angeles, though it does have a cost.

      I should advise you never to buy a screen with serious damage to the front (the back matters less since it is usually unseen) as the repair bill will be unjustifiably high, unless the artist is well known or the screen has great artistic or historical value. However, if the individual panels of a screen appeal, then the sky is the limit.

      Most Westerners prefer single screens, fortunately, as they are likely to cost less! The purist prefers pairs, especially if they come with a box, as it means they are easier to store, transport, and authenticate. They also appeal for their sense of completeness.

      Common is a kind of patchwork screen with attached old scrolls or fans. They can be very attractive. A Swiss neighbor once bought such a screen and a small part was signed Kanō Tanyū, the famous artist (1602-74). Before it was exported, customs officials became agitated about losing a national treasure until an expert assured them it was a fake and the fan dated from the nineteenth century! It was nevertheless very decorative.

      Westerners often raise screens, especially smaller ones, by mounting them on legs or placing them flat against the wall on mounts. This allows the screens to be decorations, not furniture, and hence they take up no floor space. They may fit in better with the interior too and experience less wear and tear at the bottom, from being moved around or tripped on.

      Fusuma are sliding doors to a Westerner. In this sense, they are not fixed and can be taken out and moved elsewhere at any time. Paintings on them may get rubbed by other doors sliding against them and so their condition can deteriorate badly. They are scarcely painted today, except to replace old doors on temples or shrines. Nice images on silk or paper are often transferred to other media. They are solid, heavy doors and I doubt if they are collectible.

      Fig. 39 Anon.,"Two Bears amongst Pine Trees and Water," six-panel screen, late 19th c.,5 ft 7 1/2 in x 12ft 2 in (1.7 x 3.7 m). Photo courtesy Liza Hyde.

      Fig. 40 Kane School, "Flower Carts," left-hand of pair of six-panel screens, unsigned, ink, color, gofun, and gold, 17th c., each 5 ft 6 in x 12 ft 4 1/2 in (1.7 x 3.8 m), purchased by French diplomat in Japan in 1949. Screens depict gosho gurumo (courtiers' carriages) laden with seasonal flowers (right: bush clover, hydrangea, dianthus, gentian, freesia, peony, chrysanthemum, morning glory; left: striped bamboo with blue blooms, camellia, chrysanthemum, hibiscus, wisteria, iris, peony, pinks) in porcelain, pottery, bamboo, wicker, and wood vessels. Photo courtesy Liza Hyde.

      Fig.41 Anon.,"Emperor Xuan-Zong of T'ang Dynasty" (with favorite consort Yang Gui-fei and ladies-in-waiting divided into two camps, fighting with flowers), six-panel screen, ink and color on paper, 18th c., 6ft x 12ft (1.8 x 3.6 m). Photo courtesy Liza Hyde.

      Fig. 42 Anon., "Chrysanthemums," two-panel screen, gold leaf, raised flowers, early 17th c., 6 ft x 5 ft 7 in (1.8 x 1.7 m). Photo courtesy Liza Hyde.

      Fig. 43 Rim pa School,"Fiowers in Landscape with Fence,"two-pa nel screen, color on paper, early 18th c., 4 ft 5 in x 4 ft 7 in (1.3 x 1.4 m). Photo courtesy Liza Hyde.

      Hanging Scrolls (Kakejiku or Kakemono)

      The fixed frame picture of the West, hung for decades on the same wall, was unknown to the Orient where hanging scrolls (kakejiku or kakemono) could be rolled up and easily stored away. The designs were painted or drawn on silk or paper laid on paper. At the heavy bottom end were rollers made of ivory, wood, or porcelain. Additional little weights were placed on each end to keep the scroll from moving too much if there was a draft. At the top there were two flaps (futai) which hung down and strings from each side going up to the hanging cord. Matching paper and surrounds play a great role in bringing out the qualities of a scroll-not a job for beginners.

      Traditional Japanese paintings (nihonga) use mineral pigments, unlike the oil-based pigments of the West. This means that they are dreamier and cleaner in a way. They can stand being rolled up and taken out now and then (quite often, in fact), but of course their condition is not improved by it and it should be done with great care. Some scrolls get framed nowadays, as in the West, to prevent damage to the paint or Indian ink, but most scrolls in antiquarian quarters are rolled as in the past and stored in a box, perhaps within another if particularly cherished. There is likely to be an inscription (on the inner or outer) box saying what kind of work it is and by whom, as this saves getting it out each time to check in a store or private storehouse. In cheaper stores, they are hung in rows.

      Since about 1600, the most cherished place for a scroll was the tokonoma, a ceremonial alcove placed slightly off-center in important rooms. Usually on the left, it is set aside for beauty, not utility, like a mantelpiece in the West. (You might not believe that statement in certain ryokan and minshuku (inns) where the tokonoma gets stuffed with televisions, telephones, or safes.) The alcove may hold a seasonal flower arrangement and hanging scroll. The important guest will always be seated in front of it, the place of honor.

      Scrolls were changed frequently to suit the season, mood, or occasion-to honor a special guest, for example, or to suit the flowers in a room. After the war, when Japanese wages were low, there was a brisk demand from American soldiers for decorative scrolls, mainly of kimonoed women, on strips of silk not made into formal pieces or signed. These were taken home and spread widely. They are still quite cheap and make pleasant gifts but are not exactly art either, as they were mass-produced.

      An important distinction is made between paintings on silk (kempon) and those on much less expensive and more fragile paper. Remounting silk is feasible so it has a potentially longer life. A work's life is determined by the backing paper and mount, as well as by its treatment. Another drastic gap is between original and printed works- therefore lower-priced, still desirable for those not on six-figure incomes.

      Hand Scrolls (E-maki or E-makimono)

      Hand scrolls (e-maki) are attached to two wooden rollers which you roll in your hands from right to left, as that is how Chinese and Japanese were long written: vertical columns run from right to left. (Nowadays, fiction and literary works such as criticism are usually still written like that, as well as cartoon books, but textbooks and how-to type books read like Western books, from left to right; surprisingly the Chinese have taken to it for everything).

      You unroll the left-hand roller as you roll up the right-hand roller; images and text come in from the left. They may be 50 feet (16 meters) long or much shorter. Because of their length, they can tell a long story in a pictorial or even cartoon style.

      Fig. 44 Anon., "Deer," six-panel screen, gold leaf, mineral colors, 18th c., 5 ft 6 in x 8 ft (1.7 x 2.4 m). Photo courtesy Liza Hyde.

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