This screen was almost certainly made for an exhibition, with its spectacular design, outstanding needlework, and complementary frieze of peacock feathers on the base of the lacquer frame. With the gold feathers set off against the dark background, the entire screen looks like a piece of maki-e lacquer ware. It was probably made by the leading Kyoto silk manufacturer Nishimura Sōzaemon. (Exhibition number 21)
Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 9 November 2012-27 January 2013, Threads of Silk and Gold: Ornamental Textiles from Meiji Japan, Clare Pollard, ed. (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2012), no. 21 p. 126, p. 27, cover & pp.124-129
lacquer, maki-e
Chinese and Japanese lacquer is made from the sap of the lacquer tree, which is indigenous to Eastern China. It is applied to wood as a varnish or for decorative effect. In India and the Middle East, lacquer is made from the deposit of the lac insect.
(‘sprinkled design’) generic term for lacquer decoration using powdered metals sprinkled onto wet lacquer to create a design
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
© 2013 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum