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Japanese Four Panel Screen: Nadeshiko on Gold Leaf

This Japanese four-panel screen, dating to the mid-Edo period (circa 1750), depicts graceful clusters of nadeshiko (fringed pinks) set against a luminous gold-leaf ground. Native to Japan and celebrated in poetry and painting for centuries, nadeshiko is associated with beauty, elegance, and the changing seasons. Executed in ink and mineral pigments on mulberry paper with finely veined eighteenth-century gold leaf, the composition combines delicate floral forms with expansive areas of shimmering gold, creating a refined balance of ornament and restraint. Finished with a silk brocade border, black lacquer trim, and bronze hardware, the screen exemplifies the understated sophistication of Japanese decorative arts during the Edo period (1603–1868).