Cleveland Museum of Art

Women Chasing Crickets on an Autumn Moor

Date

early 1790s

Medium

color woodblock print

Culture

Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

In the waning days of summer, autumn insects begin to sing, heralding the approach of autumn. The two courtesans and their servant chase crickets among flowering bush clover, one of the flowers of autumn. In the background ancient courtiers enjoy the same pastime. Note the plovers, or chidori, on the kimono of the woman on the left. These are shorebirds that migrate through Japan during the autumn and spring. Chidori in flight have been a favored theme of art and poetry for more than a thousand years in Japan.

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