Fireman’s Jacket (Hikeshi-banten) with Shogun Tarō Yoshikado

mid-19th century

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

Townsmen firefighters served in Edo’s business and residential areas. Their reversible coats were made of several layers of thick cotton fabric quilted with sashiko stitching (a running stich of “small stabs”). The inner layer was decorated with elaborate designs often inspired by popular contemporary woodblock prints of warrior-heroes and mythical creatures that instill bravery or are related to water. This jacket’s interior (shown reversed) features a scene popular in Kabuki and 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. Yoshikado holds his family banner, patterned with a tethered black horse. The subject signifies a heroic and honorable confrontation with death, suitable for such a garment.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

紺木綿地太郎良門模様火消半纏
Title: Fireman’s Jacket (Hikeshi-banten) with Shogun Tarō Yoshikado
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: mid-19th century
Culture: Japan
Medium: Quilted cotton with tube-drawn paste-resist dyeing (tsutsugaki) with hand-painted details
Dimensions: 36 1/2 × 49 in. (92.7 × 124.5 cm)
Classification: Costumes
Credit Line: Lent by John C. Weber Collection
Curatorial Department: Asian Art