A pair of lost Japanese folding screen paintings sent to Queen Victoria in 1860 as part of a lavish diplomatic gift have been rediscovered in the Royal Collection.
The screens, which were thought not to have survived, will go on public display next month for the first time since they arrived more than a century and a half ago.
Extensive conservation work since they were found has revealed curious details of their history.
It was discovered that fragments of railway timetables were used to patch the pieces while they were on show at Windsor Castle during Victoria’s reign.
Rachel Peat, curator of the Japan: Courts and Culture exhibition, said: “After decades of believing these important gifts were lost, this rediscovery is extraordinarily significant.
“The screen paintings marked a new era of diplomatic engagement between Japan and Britain and brought the vivid beauty of Japan’s changing seasons right to the heart of the British court.
“I’m delighted that visitors will see them on display for the first time, just as they might first have been admired by Queen Victoria.”
The pieces formed part of the first diplomatic gift between Japan and Britain in almost 250 years.
Eight pairs of screen paintings were sent by the Japanese shogun Tokugawa Iemochi shortly after Japan’s reopening to the West, following more than two centuries of deliberate isolation.
The opulent gift to Victoria marked a landmark treaty that reopened seven Japanese ports and cities to British trade and allowed a British diplomat to reside in Japan for the first time.
Royal Collection Trust curators raised the possibility they might still exist during research for the Japan: Courts and Culture exhibition, and Dr Rosina Buckland, curator of the Japanese Collections at the British Museum, translated the artist’s signature on the two screens.
The signatures and style were compared with those received by other European monarchs at the same time.
The screens will form part of Japan: Courts and Culture, the first exhibition to bring together the Royal Collection’s holdings of Japanese works of art, opening at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace on April 8.
