Estimate

18.000 - 22.000

Session

8 May 2026

Description

Japan, Edo Period, 17th century

Ink, colour, 'gofun' and gold leaf on paper

Depicting a 'hanaguruma' laden with a wicker basket overflowing with white and crimson peonies and trailing branches of wisteria, set against a luminous gold-leaf ground

The cart wheels boldly decorated with 'mitsu-domoe mon' within cloud-form rims, the shafts with geometric patterning and tied with red silk ribbons

The composition set upon a gently undulating ground with stylised golden clouds ('kumo') at the base

Bordered in blue silk with a wave pattern

(signs of ageing and wear to the gold leaf, minor pigment losses)



日本江户时代，十七世纪。六扇屏风，纸本金地，水墨设色敷胡粉。绘花车（'hanaguruma'）满载白牡丹与绯红牡丹，并垂下紫藤花枝；车轮饰三巴纹及云形纹，车辕系以红色丝带，金云缭绕，蓝地波纹绢边。

160,5x360,5 cm

Additional Information

The 'hanaguruma', the flower cart, is one of the most iconic auspicious motifs in Japanese decorative painting of the Momoyama and Edo periods, evoking the splendour of festival processions and the fleeting celebration of the spring bloom. Frequently rendered within the traditions of the Kanō and Rinpa schools, the motif brings together the monumentality of the cart, with its large, ornate wheels, and the delicacy of the flowers it bears, creating a visual contrast of striking decorative impact.

In the present screen, the wicker basket brims with white and crimson peonies, symbols of wealth and distinction, accompanied by trailing branches of wisteria, a flower associated with longevity and nobility. The white petals are rendered in 'gofun', a pigment derived from calcined oyster shells, a technique that lends them a characteristic opacity and subtle relief, allowing them to stand out luminously against the gold-leaf ground.

Of particular interest is the presence of the 'mitsu-domoe mon', the triple-spiral emblem, on the cart wheels. This device, with deep Shinto roots, is frequently associated with shrines and warrior clans, and may suggest a commission linked to a specific devotional or seigneurial context.