The scene portrayed across the four panels, worked in silk thread on a gold ground, is from Murasaki Shikibu’s eleventh-century novel, the Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari). The tale recounts the amorous escapades of the ‘Shining Prince’, Genji, and introduces some of the most important characters in the history of Japanese literature. It is often referred to as the earliest novel.

All of the episodes in the novel are set in and around the former capital of Japan, called Heian-kyō or Miyako, and now known as Kyoto. In the episode embroidered on this screen, which occurs in chapter 34, a group of courtiers play kemari (kickball) beneath swirling cherry blossoms while Prince Genji’s wife, the Third Princess, watches from behind a screen. During the game, a cat pushes aside the blind concealing her, momentarily revealing the princess to one of the players, Kashiwagi, who immediately falls in love. The Tale of Genji had a profound impact on decorative arts from the Heian period (794–1185) onwards, and episodes from the narrative were frequently reproduced in exquisite detail on screen paintings and other objects. Unlike many six-leaf folding screens which depict the princess in her rooms in the background, this four-leaf screen shows only the kemari players.

The borders around the panels are covered with figured silk while the reverse of the screen is applied with gilt squares on a green background.

Since the late nineteenth century, art textiles have remained among the Imperial Household’s choicest gifts, including well into the twentieth century when this screen entered the Royal Collection.

Text adapted from Japan: Courts and Culture (2020)