Japan, 18^th century, Edo period (1615-1868)

Finely decorated with ink, watercolors, and gold foil on paper to depict a large dog-chasing event (inoumono) watched by numerous spectators standing outside the fenced area, along with street vendors and entertainers as well as other contestants, amid gnarled pine and maple trees, as horse-mounted archers chase dogs of all stripes and colors, pointing their large padded arrows at the fleeing canines, with some dogs held by leashes by attendants on foot, including two attendants and three dogs resting under a tree as the chaotic scene unfolds, framed by thick clouds.

SIZE 171.8 x 63.5 cm (each panel) and SIZE (when opened) 171.8 x 367 cm

Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and little soiling, some expected tears and creases, the wood screen with minor nicks and scratches and some old repairs.
Provenance: From the collection of L. Harrison Bernbaum, Chicago, Illinois, USA. L. Harrison Bernbaum is a Chicago businessman who co-founded the outdoor company High Sierra with his father Harry Bernbaum (1917-2015), who had been one of the first American businessmen to travel to Japan in 1956, helping to pioneer manufacturing relationships between America and Japan for the American sporting goods industry.

With a silk brocade frame and mounted to a brown-lacquered screen with parcel-gilt fittings decorated with blossoming flowers and foliate scroll.

Shooting dogs from horseback was a form of samurai training that began in the Muromachi period (1392–1573). During the peaceful 1600s this activity was revived as a samurai sporting event that attracted many spectators. As a sport, dog chasing involved two teams of seventeen participants each. The riders used softly padded arrows in order not to seriously hurt the dog, which was released within a circle of rope to begin the game. A strike on the dog‘s torso scored points; strikes on the head or legs did not count. The winning team usually received prizes of lengths of white silk cloth. The present screen shows the game in progress, with the judges sitting in the building at the left of the field. As many as eighteen pairs of screens on this subject are known in Japan and the West. Later examples, such as this pair, show greater numbers of spectators, probably reflecting the growing popularity of the sport.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related six-panel folding screen, also depicting a dog-chasing event, dated approx. 1640, in the collection of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object number B60D1.

Auction comparison:
Compare a closely related single six-panel folding screen, also depicting a dog-chasing event, dated 17^th-18^th century, 171.5 x 370.8 cm, at Bonhams, Fine Japanese Works of Art, 19 March 2014, New York, lot 3098 (bought-in at an estimate of USD 20,000-30,000).