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Unlined Summer Kimono (Hito-e) with Crickets, Grasshoppers, Cricket Cages, and Pampas Grass

early 20th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 227
In Japan, insects prized for their melodious chirping were often caught and kept in small cages. This robe depicts insect cages for crickets, grasshoppers, and bell-ring bugs (suzumushi) among pampas grass. While this seasonal and literary motif evokes the cool evenings of early autumn, the imagery is often associated with summer kimonos. This pattern was already popular by the early Edo period, and a version of it even appears in the On-hiinagata (1667), the earliest woodblock-printed pattern book for the predecessor to the modern kimono, kosode. Here, the pictorial details are rendered with refined yūzen paste-resist dyeing techniques and delicate embroidery. Subtle variations in the ground color, combined with scattered gold thread that catches the light, create the shimmering atmosphere of a fresh autumn evening.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 鼠絽地虫籠薄模様単衣
  • Title: Unlined Summer Kimono (Hito-e) with Crickets, Grasshoppers, Cricket Cages, and Pampas Grass
  • Period: Meiji period (1868–1912)
  • Date: early 20th century
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Gauze-weave silk with paste-resist dyeing, hand-painted details, and gold thread
  • Dimensions: Overall: 65 × 50 in. (165.1 × 127 cm)
  • Classification: Costumes
  • Credit Line: Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, 1937
  • Object Number: 37.92.13
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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