Another fave from The Met's #KimonoStyle show for #FrockFriday + bonus #FroggyFriday:
Fireman's Jacket (Hikeshi-banten) w/ Shogun Taro Yoshikado Japan, Edo period (1615-1868), mid-19th century Quilted cotton with tube-drawn paste-resist dyeing (tsutsugaki) with hand-painted details John C. Weber Collection
“[The jacket] features a scene popular in Kabuki & based on a print by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) in which the warrior Yoshikado asks a frog sage for magical powers to avenge the murder of his father.” This is that print:
Utagawa Kunisada (Japanese, 1786-1865) "Actor Nakamura Shikan IV as Shōgun Tarō Yoshikado" 1862, 12th lunar month Publisher: Hiranoya Shinzō Dimensions: 14 9/16 × 9 3/4 in. (36.99 × 24.77 cm) (image, vertical ōban) Print (ukiyo-e / yakusha-e); Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper Portfolio: From Toyokuni's Drawings: A Magic Contest (Toyokuni kigō: Kijutsu kurabe 豊国揮毫 奇術競) Minneapolis Institute of Art 2016.137.2
BTW that “frog sage” is Gama Sennin, the Toad Immortal; here is another woodblock print (actually a triptych) by the same artist of the same legend:
Utagawa Kunisada (Japanese, 1786-1865) “Gama Sennin Instructing Yoshikado and Takiyasha," 1845 ôban triptych (38 x 77.5 cm)
“Gama Sennin is the toad immortal, and here they appear almost like an old woman, with their long hair fashioned from a toad-faced pelt and appearing in a toad-like body. Here the magician demonstrates their magic, causing the image of a young woman to materialize on their breath. Gama Sennin, the Toad Immortal, is based upon the Chinese Immortal Liu Hai, the Sage with the Toad on his back, a benign sage with great magical powers. Kuniyoshi has outdone himself with the cave of Gama Sennin, as all the rocklike outcroppings are comprised of frogs, and a giant frog spectre hovers over the magician. In the center panel, Yoshikado has been consulting a scroll of some sort, and looks up in surprise, his hands in the ‘astonished’ gesture that Kuniyoshi favored. The motivation of the two young people is of course vengeance for a murdered loved one. A scarce design.”
image & info via https://egenolfgallery.com/products/kuniyoshi-gama-sennin-and-frog-magic