236 - AN IMPRESSIVE PAIR OF PAINTED KEYAKI WOOD ‘MOKUME AND PINES’ PANELS

AN IMPRESSIVE PAIR OF PAINTED KEYAKI WOOD ‘MOKUME AND PINES’ PANELS Japan, 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Painted in gouache and thickly applied polychrome pigments on keyaki (Japanese zelkova) wood. Each set within a wood frame. Finely painted with gnarled pine branches bearing clusters of slender green needles, the restrained composition artfully conceived around the dramatically figured mokume grain of the keyaki. SIZE 150 x 72 cm (each) Provenance: From a private collection in East Germany, acquired between the 1970s and 1990s. Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, natural age cracks and minor imperfections to the wood, very minor flaking to the pigments, a few small nicks to the edges and panels, and light surface scratches. Museum comparison: Compare a related pair of inlaid cedar wood sliding doors depicting plum blossoms, exhibited at Gishumon Bansho, Kyoto Imperial Palace, Introduction of Court Culture, 26 February-2 March 2025. Compare another related pair of wood panels depicting a pine tree, exhibited in the Mogami Yoshiaki Historical Museum, Yamagata, Shizen no katachi: Shozo meihin shohekiga [Forms of Nature: Masterpieces of Screen and Partition Painting from the Collection], 12 September 2018-20 January 2019.