Minneapolis Institute of Art

Frogs in Writing Contest

Ogawa Haritsu

Date

c. 1738

Medium

Handscroll fragment, mounted as hanging scroll, ink and color on paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Frogs with human characteristics engage in poetry writing in this handscroll mounted as a hanging scroll. While some frogs appear naked, others don courtly attire: a black cylindrical hat and robe for the males, and the layered kimonos and long flowing hair for the females. The dressed frogs appear and act like Japanese aristocrats, reciting poems written on thin strips of paper. Most of the naked frogs at the left grind ink for the courtiers to use. Meanwhile, a single frog at the right spits out a stream of water to inscribe the standing screen with the first line of a poem, perhaps as a commentary by the artist of how the art of poetry composition had trickled down to the lower classes. This illustrated fragment might have been a part of a narrative scroll, but the textual portion has been lost. Asia

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