Ito Jakuchu was a unique painter of the mid-Edo period in Kyoto. Jakuchu, whose works gave him the name of a "fantastic artist," uses a characteristic mosaic technique in this work. Here the screen is ruled into countless grids which are colored lightly, then finished with a darker color and shaded to add depth to the overall color surface. Both screens have a field with huge flowers growing wild in the foreground and water in the background. On the right screen (shown below), the white elephant is the main subject flanked by an "assortment of animals," and on the left screen, the legendary Phoenix assumes the main character among a "flock of birds." The scene depicted by the two screens brings birds and animals, both real and imaginary, to the water side.