A two-leaf screen decorated with Seiōbo, the "Queen Mother of the West", Japan, early Edo period, 17th - 18th century ,Ink, gofun and polychrome on paper with a gilt leaf background. The scene illustrates the Queen Mother of the West surrounded by her attendants. She is called Seiōbo in Japan and Xi Wang Mu in China. In her left hand she carries a longevity peach reputed to grow in the garden of her residence, a jade palace built on Mount Kunlun. The young women are dressed and coiffed according to the aesthetic canons of the Nara period, a style inspired by the costumes of the Tang period. Size of a sheet: 163 x 85 cmWear , restored tears, small missing parts and numerous repaints . These fruits, which only ripen every 3,000 or 9,000 years, ensure immortality to all those who taste them. Legend has it that during a visit by King Bokuō (Mu Wang in Chinese), she presented these peaches and tasted them with her host. Although the legend is Chinese, it was often used in Japanese iconography.