Byōbu
The Japanese folding screen with gold leaf and painted motifs.
Byōbu means protection from the wind. The screen divides a room and decorates it at the same time. In the 16th and 17th centuries the Kanō school painted screens with gold leaf for princes and shoguns.
The screen can be folded and moved. It is one of Japan’s most valued art forms and is still displayed at festivals.
Materials: Paper on a wooden frame, gold leaf, mineral pigments, silk borders
Manufacture: Painted by artists such as the Kanō school on paper panels fixed in a wooden frame.
The gold-coloured background panels.
The landscapes or flowers painted across the panels.
The screen’s folding into six panels.