{"secondaryobjectnumber":null,"periodterms":[{"id":2033898,"period":"Edo (Japanese period)"}],"creditline":"Museum purchase, gift of William R. McAlpin, Class of 1926","caption":"Japanese, Edo period (1603–1868), Kan'ei era (1624–1644), Anonymous, Messenger Delivering a Letter (Fumitsukai byōbu-e 文使い屏風絵). Two-panel folding screen: ink, colors, and gold on paper; 143.5 x 154.5 cm. Museum purchase, gift of William R. McAlpin, Class of 1926 (y1964-50)","cultureterms":[{"id":2033838,"culture":"Japanese"}],"type":"artobject","dimensionsproposed":"","terms":[{"id":2033838,"term":"Japanese","aatid":300018519,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2122699,"term":"letter (correspondence)","aatid":300026879,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2088280,"term":"women","aatid":300025943,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2055657,"term":"figures (representations)","aatid":300189808,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2088519,"term":"messenger","aatid":300025865,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2088539,"term":"courtesans","aatid":300236521,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2135141,"term":"New Year","aatid":300069456,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2033898,"term":"Edo (Japanese period)","aatid":300106643,"termtype":"Period / Style"},{"id":2064803,"term":"screens (furniture)","aatid":300037737,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2034055,"term":"Japanese painting styles","aatid":300018579,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2094346,"term":"lovers","aatid":300188621,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2106449,"term":"interior spaces","aatid":300078790,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2052977,"term":"paintings","aatid":300033618,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2162191,"term":"gold","aatid":300011021,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2043813,"term":"paper (fiber product)","aatid":300014109,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2167672,"term":"ink","aatid":300015012,"termtype":"Materials"}],"geography":[{"displaygeography":"Place made: Asia, Japan","code":"Place made","continent":"Asia","subcontinent":null,"country":"Japan","region":null,"state":null,"city":null,"county":null,"subregion":null,"locale":null,"locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/1861060/japan.html","location":{"lat":"","lon":""}}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"Overall","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"143.50"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"154.50"}],"markings":null,"accessionyear":"1964-01-01","newaccession":0,"makers":[{"id":2018,"displayname":"Anonymous","displaydate":null,"datebegin":0,"dateend":0,"prefix":null,"suffix":null,"role":"Artist","displaymaker":"Anonymous","displayorder":4}],"datecomputed":1634,"signed":null,"restrictions":null,"classification":"Paintings","packages":[{"packageid":104193,"name":"web_2017_ASIAN_April"},{"packageid":167646,"name":"web_highlights"},{"packageid":216695,"name":"2022_ART574_09_16"},{"packageid":197269,"name":"web_highlights -revised 2021"},{"packageid":267343,"name":"Web_CA_2025_Asian"},{"packageid":207234,"name":"SAB_Gala2021"},{"packageid":204177,"name":"web_whitman"}],"catalograisonne":null,"classifications":[{"id":2052977,"classification":"paintings"},{"id":2064803,"classification":"screens (furniture)"},{"id":2034055,"classification":"japanese painting styles"}],"exhibitions":[{"exhibitionid":961,"citation":"An Educated Eye: The Princeton University Art Museum Collection (Friday, February 22, 2008 - Sunday, June 15, 2008)","isvirtual":true,"begindate":"2008-02-22","enddate":"2008-06-15","uri":"https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/exhibitions/961"},{"exhibitionid":3459,"citation":"The Tale of Genji: A Japanese Classic Illuminated, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (March 5, 2019–June 16, 2019)","isvirtual":true,"begindate":"2019-03-05","enddate":"2019-06-16","uri":"https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/exhibitions/3459"}],"cultures":[{"id":13690,"culture":"Japanese","alphasort":"Japanese","begindate":0,"enddate":0,"displayculture":"Japanese","displaydate":null}],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2018_49293"],"displaytitle":"Messenger Delivering a Letter (Fumitsukai byōbu-e 文使い屏風絵)","displayculture":"Japanese","displaymaker":"Anonymous","captionhtml":"Japanese, Edo period (1603–1868), Kan'ei era (1624–1644), Anonymous, <i>Messenger Delivering a Letter (Fumitsukai byōbu-e 文使い屏風絵)</i>. Two-panel folding screen: ink, colors, and gold on paper; 143.5 x 154.5 cm. Museum purchase, gift of William R. McAlpin, Class of 1926 (y1964-50)","displaydate":null,"medium":"Two-panel folding screen: ink, colors, and gold on paper","media":[{"id":59482,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV04720","isprimary":0,"rank":31,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Inventory Project"},{"id":59483,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV04719","isprimary":0,"rank":31,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Inventory Project"},{"id":59484,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV04718","isprimary":0,"rank":31,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Inventory Project"},{"id":59485,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV04721","isprimary":0,"rank":31,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Inventory Project"},{"id":215751,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2018_49293","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":215752,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2018_49297","isprimary":0,"rank":3,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":215753,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2018_49301","isprimary":0,"rank":5,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":215754,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2018_49303","isprimary":0,"rank":6,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":215755,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2018_49310","isprimary":0,"rank":4,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":215756,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2018_49317","isprimary":0,"rank":2,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":63030,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV08922","isprimary":0,"rank":31,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Inventory Project"},{"id":63031,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV08923","isprimary":0,"rank":31,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Inventory Project"}],"displayperiod":"Edo period, 1603–1868 | Kan'ei era, 1624–1644","extended_content":true,"campuscollections":"false","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"Patrick J. Kelleher, \"College museum notes\" <em>Art journal</em> 24, no. 1 (Autumn, 1964): p. 52-70.","citation":"Patrick J. Kelleher, \"College museum notes\" <em>Art journal</em> 24, no. 1 (Autumn, 1964): p. 52-70., p. 52","date":1964,"id":4668,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/5787323682"},{"boilertext":"<i>Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections </i>(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013)","citation":"<i>Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections </i>(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 45","date":2013,"id":1994,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/865020505"},{"boilertext":"\"Acquisitions of 1964\", <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University</em> 24, no. 1 (1965): p. 20-23.<i></i>","citation":"\"Acquisitions of 1964\", <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University</em> 24, no. 1 (1965): p. 20-23.<i></i>, p. 20","date":1965,"id":1864,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774350"},{"boilertext":"Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones,<em> Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, </em>(Princeton,&nbsp;NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986)","citation":"Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones,<em> Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, </em>(Princeton,&nbsp;NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986), illus. p. 229","date":1986,"id":1899,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/14244748"},{"boilertext":"<i>Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection</i> (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007)","citation":"<i>Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection</i> (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), 48 (illus.)","date":2007,"id":474,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/191864564"}],"nowebuse":"False","periods":[{"id":12589,"period":"Edo period","alphasort":"Edo period","begindate":1603,"enddate":1868,"displayperiod":"Edo period, 1603–1868","displaydate":"1603–1868"},{"id":12590,"period":"Kan'ei era","alphasort":"Kan'ei period","begindate":1624,"enddate":1644,"displayperiod":"Kan'ei era, 1624–1644","displaydate":"1624–1644"}],"department":"Asian Art","attribute_groups":[{"id":2199319,"term":"Asian Art","termtype":"Collecting Area"},{"id":2199327,"term":"Prints and Drawings","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"daterange":"A.D. 1600-1700","dateend":1644,"depicted":[],"titles":[],"hasimage":"true","creditlinerepro":"","objectnumber":"y1964-50","inscribed":null,"texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Description","textentryhtml":"Three courtesans reclining on the tatami mats. One at left leaning on her left arm, extends a letter toward a second who is sitting with her back toward the viewer, resting on her left and with her feet extended to the right. A larger figure in the middleground reclines on cushions; right arm resting on an armrest; left hand on raised knee; holding a long pipe.&nbsp; At left is a low piece of lacquered mirror stand. Sliding door panels (fusuma) in background. On the left panel, an applied scene, nearly square, of two figures in a boat that illustrates the “Ukifune” scene in the Tale of Genji. Several folding fans and two kidney shaped ones also on the door panels.&nbsp; Across the top of the room is the shimenawa標縄, a New Year’s decoration of a rope with suspended ferns, leaves, and paper strips used to cordon off consecrated areas or as a talisman against evil. <BR>Painting mounted on later screen (19th century?) with interior and exterior surfaces stretched over two-fold frame that has a narrow border inlaid with a checkerboard of mother-of-pearl and black lacquer.","remarks":"as per object file"},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"\r\nThis screen is a splendid example of early <I>ukiyo-e </I>painting, a style of Japanese genre painting that emerged in the Kan’ei era. Fern leaves are strung across the ceiling to celebrate the New Year. The exquisite lacquered vanity table at left indicates the setting—the private room of an expertly coiffed courtesan, who leans on an armrest with a tobacco pipe in her hand. Her maid, dressed in richly patterned robes, stretches across the tatami to offer a letter to a second, younger courtesan, whose hair falls into disarray around her shoulders.</P>\r\nIn the background, sliding doors are decorated in the pattern of \"scattered fans and squares.\" The painted square on the panel at left depicts a scene from the Ukifune chapter of the great classic <I>Tale of Genji </I>(written in the early eleventh century). The interplay between the two courtesans, punctuated by the handmaiden delivering the letter, may be a reference to the pivotal moment of the Ukifune chapter, when the letter bearers of the two lovers of Ukifune cross paths by chance. </P></SPAN>","remarks":"The Art of Calligraphy in Asia Rotation"}],"datebegin":1624,"sortnumber":"1964   50y","published_date":"2026-02-11 10:15:32.051487","objectid":29435,"dimensions":"143.5 x 154.5 cm. (56 1/2 x 60 13/16 in.)","on_view":false}