Freshwater Jar (Mizusashi) with Procession of Grasshoppers

Freshwater Jar (Mizusashi) with Procession of Grasshoppers

Makuzu Kōzan I (Miyagawa Toranosuke)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This delicately executed freshwater jar depicts a parade of grasshoppers and wasps, all painted in bright colors. The grasshoppers carry flowers—perhaps stand-ins for weapons or insignia—and accompany an insect cage, evoking the elaborate processions of a daimyo, or feudal lord. The Kyoto-based painter Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795) seems to have been the source of the imagery, but there are many other related versions of the theme by his followers. Kōzan, who descended from a long line of Kyoto potters, became popular with Western collectors after exhibiting vessels with high-relief motifs at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Freshwater Jar (Mizusashi) with Procession of GrasshoppersFreshwater Jar (Mizusashi) with Procession of GrasshoppersFreshwater Jar (Mizusashi) with Procession of GrasshoppersFreshwater Jar (Mizusashi) with Procession of GrasshoppersFreshwater Jar (Mizusashi) with Procession of Grasshoppers

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.