Folding Screens

A mythological hoo bird is depicted on the left screen. Together with the paulownia tree it is a symbol of sound statesmanship, and a popular subject for works of art of the ruling Japanese elite in the Edo period (1600-1868). At that time Japan was largely cut off from the world; the ships depicted in the right screen come from two of the very few countries that had access to Japan, namely China and the Netherlands.