Tartars playing polo and hunting, one of a pair

Exotic equestrian sports captured the interest of Japanese warriors in the late 1500s, a time of heightened curiosity about foreigners and their customs. In this pair of screens, the riders are Tatars (also known as Tartars), nomadic tribesmen who lived north and west of China. A lively polo game occupies the center of the right screen, where mounted Tatars compete between decorated goal posts. In the left screen, excited hunters converge upon prey ranging from humble goats to exotic leopards. Gold clouds separate spectators, including aristocratic-looking figures in tented enclosures, from the main action. Observing the action from a vantage point in the mountains above the hunt is a figure that may be the Tatar ruler (top left corner of the left screen).

The artist, a member of the Kano atelier, appears to have based the distinctive features and costumes of the Tatars on Chinese models such as Ming-dynasty paintings of the theme “Lady Wenji’s Return to China” (Wenji Guihan). His achievement was to combine these borrowed elements in lively action scenes unfolding within a panoramic landscape.