DATA

Artist:

Kano Takanobu

Historical era:

Azuchi-Momoyama-Edo (17th century)

Material:

printed, gold on washi paper

Medium:

pair of six-fold screens

Theme:

High Resolution Facsimile of Historical Cultural Assets

Size:

Each screen H158.5 × W362.6 cm

Recipient:

National Institutes for Cultural HeritageMAP

[Original]

Current owner:

Kyushu National Museum

Material:

ink, color, and gold on washi paper

DESCRIPTION

More than ninety sets of folding screens depicting scenes of commerce with the Portuguese and other “Southern Barbarians” (Namban) who visited Japan in the Momoyama period and the early Edo Period have been identified in Japan and abroad. This work is unusual among them because the left screen shows a port in China. It is thus of great value in that it is rooted in an earlier artistic tradition of depicting trade between Japan and China. Both screens portray the characters, the ships’ cargos, and the other subject matter in great detail and variety, suggesting the hustle and bustle of a contemporary Japanese or Chinese port town. Although not signed or sealed, the painting can for stylistic reasons be attributed to Kano Takanobu (1571-1618), the second son of Kano Eitoku.