A ''tsuitate'' (衝立) is a form of single-panel

portable partition Portable partitions are a form of temporary walls which serve to divide rooms in place of permanent walls. They can be joined together section by section, or available as one unit, depending on the manufacturer. Portable walls may be fixed, or on ...

traditionally used in Japan since at least the 6th century. They may be made of wood, or a wood frame covered in paper or silk cloth. The panels are often illustrated, with paintings on both sides, sometimes by well-known artists. The wood frame may be

lacquer Lacquer is a type of hard and usually shiny coating or finish applied to materials such as wood or metal. It is most often made from resin extracted from trees and waxes and has been in use since antiquity. Asian lacquerware, which may be ca ...

ed, and pricier tsuitate may be very richly decorated, including use of precious metals. Apart from their use as works of art, they are often used to screen entrances, and block wind and sun They may also partition rooms, divide the public part of a shop from the residential area behind, and act as a signboard. File:WadakeIndoor.JPG, A robust all-wood tsuitate, screening a fire from drafts in a rural house (history exhibit) File:舞姫図・紅葉蒔絵衝立-Freestanding Screen with Dancer MET 29 100 520.jpeg, A tall 1700s tsuitate, presumably a replica konmeichi screen. File:JapanHomes161 TSUI-TATE.jpg, Tsuitate could be made in one piece, or as here, with a separate stand and panel File:Kominnkano mouhitotu no iriguti.jpg, Tsuitate are traditionally used to screen entrances File:Brooklyn Museum - Standing Screen (Tsuitate) of a Tiger - Kawanabe Kyosai - overall.jpg, A print of a painting by

Kawanabe Kyōsai was a Japanese artist, in the words of art historian Timothy Clarke, "an individualist and an independent, perhaps the last virtuoso in traditional Japanese painting". Biography Living through the Edo period to the Meiji period, Kyōsai wi ...

, depicitng a tsuitate screen painted by Kyōsai, complete with his signature on the screen

References

{{Reflist Furnishings Japanese traditions Japanese woodwork Japanese words and phrases Partitions in traditional Japanese architecture Portable furniture