Garments hung on screens

Object Details

• Label

  This pair of six-panel folding screens depicts assorted women's garments draped over two folding screens. The stylish kosode, forerunners of the kimono, were sewn from black silk with stenciled gold-leaf decoration. Red silk linings show at the robes' edges.

  The scene probably represents luxurious goods belonging to a fashionable female entertainer in Kyoto. The garments show the efflorescence of textile decoration that paralleled the popularity of decorated Shino and Oribe wares from Mino. A screen like this one would have been displayed in a house of entertainment or in the home of a warrior or wealthy merchant, where Mino ceramics would also have been used to serve meals and tea.

• Provenance

  To 1905

  Thomas E. Waggaman (1839-1906), Washington, DC, to 1905 [1]

  From 1905 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased at the sale of the Waggaman Collection, American Art Association, New York, NY, January 25-February 3, 1905 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Screen List, pg. 29, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Japanese Screens (March 2007 to January 3, 2016)

  Japanese Ceramics from Seto and Mino (January 19, 1996 to August 5, 2001)

  Kyoto Ceramics (November 9, 1984 to April 25, 1985)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Thomas E. Waggaman (1839-1906)

  American Art Association (established 1883) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Waggaman, Thomas E., American Art Association, Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Geisha

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings