Item from the Mokuhankan Flea Market

Frog and Gold Beetle

Size: 26.5cm by 38.0cm (10.43 in by 14.96 in) | Enlargement | Shipping Code: [L] ?

Designer: Kitagawa Utamaro

Era: Early Showa | Currency: $ / £ / €

Price: ¥ 12,000$ 96.00£ 70.00€ 82.00 [Item has been sold]

Description: The print is from Utamaro's series Pictures of Insects (Ehon Mushi Erami); a collection of 15 designs of insects and other garden creatures that pairs various insects with humorous or suggestive poems (kyoka) reflecting on human behavior. The poems were written by Ishikawa Masamochi.

In this scene, a green frog rests gently on the surface of still water, while another frog hides behind a broad green leaf on the left. The upper part of its body is visible because it’s reflected in the water below. Atop the leaf, a small golden beetle remains motionless, its metallic sheen catching the light.

The accompanying kyoka on the right reads: My love, delivered by letter, refused as though it were a frog shaking water from its face in a pond.

I am as pitiful as a gold beetle hiding under your pillow and burning with desire.

This poem use the animals as metaphors, the frog becomes a symbol of rejection, while the beetle embodies secret yearning—together evoking the quiet sorrow of love unreturned.

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