You know what I mean, of course.

I think 'Kakemono' is right.

They are long things; they look like coloured hieroglyphics printed on brown paper.

He gets behind them and holds them up above his head on the end of a stick so that you can see the whole of them at once; and he tells you the name of the Japanese artist who painted them in the year 1500 B.C., and what it is all about.

He shows them to you by the hour and forgets to give you dinner.