Kyōgen Costume: Jacket (Suō) with Design of Lotuses

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This jacket (suō), with its field of graphically rendered lotuses, would be worn with matching long trousers in kyōgen plays for the role of a samurai lord. Kyōgen is a comic form of Japanese theater, performed along with the more serious noh drama. Historically, kyōgen players had two functions. First, between acts of noh, they explicated in the vernacular the play’s poetic language. Second, during a conventional full-day program of noh theater, they performed in plays that were interspersed for comic relief. Costumes for kyōgen are noted for their bold resist-dyed patterns on linenlike asa, as opposed to noh costumes’ more elegant woven or embroidered silk.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art