Pair of Screens: Sparrows on a Blossoming Cherry Tree

Although the two screens that comprise their pair can be viewed as separate compositions, they were intended to be viewed together. The two-panel screen on the right depicts a partial view of a cherry tree trunk, with just a few thin flowering branches rising up into the scene and a more substantial branch sprouting leftward from the trunk and out of the visual field. The two-panel screen on the left continues the arc of the other screen’s left-sprouting branch and culminates in a scene of two sparrows perched on branches with clusters of cherry blossoms and leaves. The imagery is painted in ink, color, and white pigments over a gold paper ground. A signature and red square relief seal appear in the lower right corner of the right panel of the right-hand screen. These screens originated as a set of sliding cabinet doors, as indicated by traces of circular damage at the midpoints of the left and right edges of each screen panel, where the handling implement to slide each door once existed.