Pair of byobu or folding screens in two panels, painted on silk over gold foil in mineral pigments and gofun or clam shell gesso with a scene of swimming koi or carp. Signed on the lower right side of the right hand screen and on the lower left side of the left hand screen by the artist: Tensho, and sealed twice: Matsunaga Sanei-In or Sealed by Matsunaga Sanei and then: Tensho (Matsunaga Sanei or Matsunaga Tensho, the go or art names of Matsunaga Mitsugu, 1879 – ?). With roiro or polished black lacquer frames and pierce work silver mounts. Showa 6 or 1931.

With the original tomobako or signed screen storage box, inscribed on the exterior of the lid: Yurizu Zu, Urahaku Nikyoku Kin Byobu, Isso or Playing Fish Design, Silk Over Gold Two Panel Gold Screens, A Pair; and on the reverse of the lid: Showa Roku, Kanoto Hitsuji Nen, Moshun, Tensho Sanei Kore wo Kaku or Showa (Era) Sixth (Year) (1931), Year of the Sheep, Early Spring, Painted by Tensho Sanei, and sealed twice: Matsunaga and then: Tensho Ga or Painted by Tensho.

Matsunaga Tensho was born on June 24, 1897 in Tarui in the Fuwa District of Gifu Prefecture. Tensho first studied painting under the Shijo School painter Kawamura Kobun. Later he apprenticed in Tokyo under the Maruyama School painter Kawabata Gyokusho. A skilled naturalist in the bird-and-flower tradition, Tensho became renowned for his painting of koi. A frequent exhibitor, his paintings won many awards and the patronage of the Imperial Court. He was a member of the Teikoku Kaiga Kyokai (Imperial Painting Society), the Bijutsu Kenseikai (Fine Art Research Association), the Nihongakai (Japanese Painting Association), the Nihon Bijutsu Kyokai (Japan Art Association), and the Tenshinkai (an art association of Kawabata Gyokusho’s students, the Tenshin Society). Tensho also became noted as a Matcha Tea Ceremony master.

With his Playing Carp, Matsunaga Tensho paints with a triumphant naturalism. He renders the muscular bodies of the fish in finely shadowed detail. The scales ripple precisely over their backs as they dive back and forth among themselves. Gold glistens around the eyes of the darker fish and white gofun on the lighter ones, their black pupils glinting white as they catch the warm sunlight streaming through the water from above. Tensho darkens the glowing gold of the background with thin horizontal washes of sumi ink to suggest depth and the shadows of the fish in the water. A rich use of color balances the asymmetrical, swirling composition: blue and white carp play off warm brown-gold and black-gold ones, while an intense white and rich orange koi pull our eyes back around from the right. The paintings glow with light and a joyous sense of power and strength.