19th century Japanese folding screen - Firefly hunt

2-panel screen depicting 3 young ladies and a child. Watercolors on paper, gold-leaf background. The young mother carries her child while one of her companions, kneeling, traps what appear to be fireflies. This was a popular activity in Japan, practiced on summer evenings by Edo's Bijin (beauties). The charming subject is unusual for this type of screen, which is always decorated with warriors, animals, plants or landscapes. The uprights are made of red lacquered wood, and are reinforced and decorated with gilded copper plates chased with scrolls on a nanako background. These plates are thick and of the highest quality in terms of chasing and gilding. Fortunately, this folding screen has never been restored, the various accidents are all clearly visible and their restoration presents no technical difficulty for a perfect job. The drawings are precise and elegant, indicating the brushwork of an excellent artist. The feet, hands, faces, tree trunk and leaves are all perfect. We have not researched the artist, but can do so on request. Japanese work from the Edo period, possibly Meiji.
A very rare and delightful subject.