Japanese Six Panel Screen by Possibly Unkoku School: Ka'me Dogs

Five foreign hounds, one gold sky, and not a single one is paying attention.

This six panel screen of ka'me dogs is from Japan, Edo Period (1615 to 1868 CE), ink and pigment on gold leaf paper, possibly Unkoku School. Slim Western hounds reached Japan with European traders, and painters treated them as exotic curiosities; the name is often traced to a sailor's "come here." The dogs sit, stretch and leap across a pale gold ground, with red cords at their necks, tufts of grass and a fence at left. It measures 153 inches wide and 67.5 high.

Still no one has come when called.