Boats on the Sea

Tawaraya Sōtatsu

17th century

Six-panel folding screen, ink, color, gold, and silver on paper

Minneapolis Institute of Art

The lower portion of these screens depicts a shore facing an open expanse of water, while the upper portion consists of wafting clouds made from densely sprinkled pieces of cut gold foil. Within the lower portion, the four panels on the left side of the left screen show a land mass consisting of several rocky outcroppings surrounded by pines, red and white azalea, and bamboo grass. The earthen ground is decorated with tiny gold and silver foil (sunago) and foil slivers (noge) applied in horizontal bands. The presence of azalea indicates an early summer setting. The right two panels of the left screen (bottom) and all of the right sc