Fashionable Battle of Frogs (Fûryû kaeru ôgassen no zu)
Kawanabe Kyôsai
(Japanese, 1831–1889)
Surugaya Sakujirô
(Japanese)
Katada Chôjirô (Hori Chô)
(Japanese)
1864 (Bunkyû 4/Genji 1), 2nd month
Medium/TechniqueWoodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
DimensionsVertical ôban triptych; 35.4 × 73.8 cm (13 15/16 × 29 1/16 in.)
Credit LineWilliam Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession number11.37139a-c
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPrints
Collections
Like his first teacher, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Kyōsai designed many appealing prints of animals, often showing them imitating human behavior. In addition to its obvious comic aspects, this triptych had a deeper political meaning at the time it was made. The Tokugawa shogunate, represented by the army of frogs with the water cannon, was about to launch military reprisals against its rivals in the province of Chōshū. By 1868, however, the rule of the shoguns had ended and the new Meiji era began.
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850–d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 19, 2005)
NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.
NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.
