Folding Screen

This Japanese screen has a perplexing combination of a decorative diaper pattern around three rondels featuring three varieties of flowers: a poppy in the middle, flanked by what is possibly a cherry branch on the left and possibly a paulownia on the right. The diaper pattern was typically used in the background or along borders, especially on textiles, lacquer, metalwork, and ceramics. Here, it is a dominant feature of the decorative scheme. Painted flora designs surrounded by diaper patterns commonly appeared as part of ceiling panel decorations in castles, temples, and shrines beginning in the late sixteenth century, though rarely on screens.