Unidentified Azuchi-Momoyama Period Japanese Kano School Painting

   I recently found an original Japanese Kano School painting in an antiques shop, and although the painting is unsigned and lacks any text or seals, I believe it to be from Azuchi-Momoyama Period , although it could very well be early Edo period, or even Meiji for that matter, since it's difficult to attribute this work to any particular Kano school painter since it is unsigned.

The painting was re-framed sometime between 1943 & 1955.  I know this because the framer's label marked "Boston Book and Art Shop, 12? Newbury Street, Boston 16, Mass", :on the back has a 2 digit US zipcode, 16, which was only used between 1943 to 1963, however, according to a photograph of Boston Book & Art Shop found in the MIT Libraries collection, they were on Boylston Street in 1955..   I also know that this painting was also framed prior to this framing job, because the work contains at least 2 different matte burns of different sizes, the other being smaller than the matte which was in this particular frame.

Unfortunately it has also been mounted on a thick card stock and not in a traditional Japanese way.  It is my belief that the work may have originally been part of a multi-panel work and that the signature was on a different panel, or that it was originally a larger work, mounted on a scroll and that the scroll was possibly in very poor condition with damage and that someone trimmed the work, mounted and framed the remaining undamaged portion, and that the signature was possibly lost, destroyed or trimmed off prior to framing, however, I believer the former is more likely the case given that the rocks and tree to the left would most likely continue both upward and to the left as part of a more complete scene.

I have been researching Kano school paintings extensively attempting to attribute this work to a specific artist, and it's enough to make my brain explode, therefore I temporarily give up, for now, because what I really need, is the advice and opinion of an expert on Japanese Kano School paintings.

This Japanese painting, painted in Kano-ha style, measures approximately 13¼" wide x 10⅞", is unevenly trimmed, & depicts a woman playing a stringed musical instrument to a mother and female child sitting beneath a pine tree.  The stringed instrument rests across the woman's lap.

Naturally I removed the painting from the frame, which I always do when acquiring art pieces.  If there's one thing I have a pet peeve about, it's mattes, cardboard backings and non-traditional mounting methods, so I always remove paintings from whatever frame they're in, and if possible, hope to remove the work from its existing mounting and have appropriate conservation methods applied by a professional conservator.

If you have any ideas or suggestions on who the artist is of this Japanese Kano School painting, please comment.  Thank you

pp20 est1000+