Oshiebari byobu is a kind of folding screen whose panels are composed of individually-mounted paintings. This work (hereafter “byobu”) is one of Ito Jakuchu’s earliest oshiebari byobu, dated 1760 in its inscription. A year earlier in 1759, he had completed the fusuma (sliding-door panels) and toko-haritsuke (panels attached on the alcove walls) paintings at the oshoin (the large drawing room) of Rokuon-ji temple, known as Kinkaku-ji, or temple of the Golden Pavilion. Nearly half of the motifs depicted there are found in this byobu with minor differences.

One difference is observed on the representation of the back of crane. As the crane in this byobu highly resembles one of the two in the Rokuon-ji fusuma, the representation might have been derived from that of Cranes on Pine Tree by Chen Bo-chong, a Chinese painter of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), in the collection of Daiun-ji temple. However, on the back of the crane in this byobu are scale like patterns, whereas none is represented on the back of the Rokuon-ji temple fusuma crane. Identical representations of crane with similarly patterned feathers are found in other paintings by Jakuchu , the one in Cranes and Plumtree of the renowned Doshoku-saie (Colorful Realm of Living Beings) series, for instance.

The use of ink tone also differs from one another in the two said works. This is demonstrated through the representation of pine needles and grapes in both works. Characterized by the similar bold brushwork, the grey tone of the Rokuon-ji fusuma pine needles is replaced by a black ink tone in this byobu. The grey color of the grapes, on the other hand, changes from various shades in the Rokuon-ji fusuma to one in this byobu. Moreover, in this byobu, the grey tone is juxtaposed with the black ink tone in other mounted paintings. This is probably one of the earliest examples of such juxtaposition, which became prevalent in Jakuchu’s later ink paintings. Applying such monochromatic color scheme, Jakuchu’s ink paintings possess the characteristics of woodblock print, an unusual feature among other Edo-period ink works. Perhaps because of this, modern viewers are easily attracted by Jakuchu’s works.

At the same time as this byobu was painted, Jakuchu was working on Doshoku-saie series. Although the latter is colored and appears rather different from this byobu, several motifs, including the said crane, small birds, nandinas and lotuses, are similarly depicted in both works. Although there are at least two other Oshiebari byobu of similar subjects by Jakuchu are known, this byobu seems to be connected with his other contemporaneous works the most.

Ito Jakuchu (painter; 1716–1800)
Also known as Jokin; Keiwa; Tobeian; Beito’o
Kyoto-born mid to late Edo period painter. Established an original painting style after studying the Kano school works, Song, Yuan and Ming paintings and Ogata Korin’s works. His paintings of chickens are so well-recognized as known as “Jakuchu’s Chickens.”