"Tachibina" Hanging Scroll By Ishiwatari Fuko — Hina Doll Painting On Shikishi

"Tachibina" Hanging Scroll by Ishiwatari Fuko — Hina Doll Painting on Shikishi, Signed, Original Box & Certificate, Showa Period Japan

A hanging scroll by Ishiwatari Fuko (Kanagawa, d. 1961), a nihonga painter who studied under the celebrated Kawai Gyokudō and exhibited at the national Bunten and Teiten salons, latterly as a jury-exempt (mukansa) Nitten member.
The painting depicts a tachibina pair — the ancient standing form of the Emperor and Empress dolls displayed for Hinamatsuri, Japan's Doll Festival on 3 March. Painted in ink and mineral pigment on a shikishi card, the pair are rendered with disarming simplicity: the Empress in a flowering kimono of red, ochre and pink, the Emperor reduced to a few confident grey lines. Signed with the artist's seal.
The shikishi is mounted on a scroll of soft blue-grey batik-patterned paper with cream silk, finished with red-lacquered jiku ends. Complete with the signed and sealed tomebako (storage box), the artist's paper wrapper bearing Japan Art Association seals, and braided cord.
Scroll: 123 × 48 cm. Painting: 32 × 33.5 cm.
A gentle, graphic piece — hung seasonally for Hinamatsuri in the traditional manner, or year-round as a quiet study in Japanese line and restraint.
Condition: good; light foxing/toning to mounting consistent with age, painting clean.