Antique Japanese Silk Painting Tea Pickers Genre Scene Gold Fleck 14"W

Japanese Genre Painting on Silk: Tea Harvest Scene with Gold-Fleck Decoration, Early 20th Century

Japan, early 20th century (Meiji-Taisho transition)

This is a Japanese genre painting on silk depicting a tea-processing scene: a person roasting and sorting tea leaves under an eve, two porters carrying baskets of freshly picked leaves on shoulder yokes, and a mother and child walking past with a basket of tea and a pet turtle on a lead. Fine ink outline and flat color washes throughout, with scattered gold-fleck decoration across the ground.

Tea picking and processing (chatsumi) was a favorite subject for genre paintings produced for the export and souvenir trade in the late Meiji and Taisho periods, prized by Western visitors for its picturesque, everyday view of rural Japanese life. The gold-flecked ground was a hallmark decorative touch on export pieces like this one, giving an otherwise modest genre scene a shimmering, luxurious surface.

The sheet in on board and is unframed, with small holes along the top edge suggesting it was once mounted, possibly a panel lifted from a folding screen.

Form: Japanese genre painting on silk, unframed
Construction or Decoration: Ink and color on silk with scattered gold-fleck decoration
Mark:
Period: Early 20th century (Meiji-Taisho transition)
Dimensions: 13.5″W × 10.5″H (34 × 27 cm)
Weight:
Condition: Gold flecking is denser in some areas than others; unclear whether this is original decorative technique or deterioration/flaking of a metallic pigment, worth a close look in hand. Small holes along the top edge from a prior mounting. Otherwise good color and detail based on photos.