Keywords
Art History
Painting
A standing screen *tsuitate shōji 衝立障子 decorated with horses that was used in the imperial palace from the Heian period. The term umagata-no-shōji originally referred to screens decorated with a single leaping horse, but the term came to include group compositions involving horses, as for example in the Chinese inspired polo-match theme (see *taisō byōbu 太宗屏風). According to a court record, the Kinpishō 禁秘抄, such screens were placed in the western covered passageway Nishi-no-watadono 西渡殿, the room used for arranging meal trays Daibandokoro 台盤所, and in the imperial dining room Asagarei-no-ma 朝餉の間 of the Seiryōden 清涼殿 (main building of Kyoto Gosho 京都御所).