Six-Panel Folding Screen (Byōbu) with Ichimatsu Checkerboard Pattern

A six-panel folding screen (byobu), one face decorated with a bold ichimatsu (checkerboard) pattern in alternating cream and slate-blue-grey squares of paper. The reverse is lined in a plain silver-grey paper with fine horizontal striations, giving it a subtly woven, textile-like appearance. Both faces are set within wine-red lacquered borders, and the panels are hinged to allow the screen to fold flat in traditional accordion fashion. The ichimatsu pattern relates to one of the most celebrated uses of the design in Japanese architecture, found on the blue-and-white fusuma and alcove wall of the Shokin-tei teahouse at Katsura Imperial Villa, Kyoto (17th century), a motif long regarded as emblematic of refined Japanese design.