Wormwood Patch from Album of Illustrations for the Tale of Genji, 1600s. Japan, Edo period (1615-1868). Accordion album; ink, light color, and gold on paper; each leaf: 26.3 x 22 cm (10 3/8 x 8 11/16 in.); painting only: 17 x 20.6 cm (6 11/16 x 8 1/8 in.). This album contains illustrations for the classic literary work the Tale of Genji, authored in the 1000s by Murasaki Shikibu, an aristocrat of the Heian period (794-1185) court. The scenes are painted in the white drawing” (hakuby?) mode, in which a fine ink line is used to depict figures and spaces with great subtlety, punctuated only occasionally by traces of red pigment for a character’s lips, a detail of a garment, or a decorative element. These two scenes illustrate episodes from the chapters Thin Veil of Cloud” (Usugumo) and Barrier Gate” (Sekiya).