Painted Cypress Fan

A Heian Fan Painted with Poem-Pictures

The Painted Cypress Fan (彩絵桧扇) is a Heian-period cypress fan owned by Itsukushima Shrine in Miyajima-cho, Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, which in 1952 was designated a National Treasure.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records one fan 30.0 by 48.5 centimetres, owned by Itsukushima Shrine, first designated under the old system in 1899.

According to the Agency, cypress fans were originally used plain by courtiers to note ceremonial procedures, but from the Heian period women carried painted fans with decorative cords in formal dress.

The Paintings

According to the Agency, 34 thin cypress slats are joined at the pivot by a silver bird-shaped fitting and bound with thread at the top. Both faces are coated with white pigment and mica, scattered with cut gold and silver leaf, threads and dust, then painted in rich mineral colours.

The front shows a courtier in informal robes, a lady and a girl, with pines and a sandbar and characters hidden in reeds; the back shows a red plum on a sandbar, an incense cage beneath it and a wheel in the water, also with hidden characters.

What to Look For

The Agency notes that early cypress fans survive among Itsukushima's ancient treasures and at Sada Shrine, but this one is distinguished by its poem-pictures, valuable as showing the poem-picture designs fashionable in the Heian period.

Its rich colouring, figures with slit eyes and hook noses, and gold and silver leaf, threads and dust give it an elegant character typical of the late Heian period.

Visiting the Painted Cypress Fan

The fan is owned by Itsukushima Shrine and is not always on display; check the shrine's announcements.