Two-Panel Embroidered Standing Screen_left

The use of folding screens seems to have been introduced to Japan by Korean visitors from Paekche during the Asuka period (552-645). In Japan, multi-paneled folding screens were known as byobu. Although embroidered screens were less common in Japan than in China and Korea, examples such as this demonstrate the aesthetic and technical mastery of Japanese needleworkers. These exquisitely embroidered panels depict a romantic afternoon scene featuring white herons with autumn flowers and grasses in a marshy setting.