The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Jacket with Octopus

c. 1800–1868

Japan, Edo period

(1615–1868)
Silk crepe (chirimen)
neck edge to hem: 79.1 cm (31 1/8 in.); Across shoulders: 128.6 cm (50 5/8 in.)
L. E. Holden Fund 2020.66
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Crepe results from the weft thread being kept tighter than the warp thread during weaving.

Description

With its many long arms, the octopus lends itself to a tantalizing design, with the front of this garment displaying tentacles and the back revealing the face. An octopus motif sometimes appears on costumes for the role of the Catfish Priest, a sidekick of the main villain in the Kabuki play Shibaraku (Stop a Moment!). It is also seen in genre painting during the 1600s as a logo on the uniforms of transportation staff, perhaps indicating just how much they can carry. This jacket may have recycled the idea as a fashion statement.
  • ?–c. 2000
    (Elizabeth Wilson sold to Julia Meech)
    c. 2000–2020
    (Julia Meech, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    2020–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Yamanaka, Norio. The Book of Kimono. New York: Kodansha USA, 2012. p. 58
    Lynch, Annette, and Mitchell D. Strauss. Ethnic Dress in the United States: A Cultural Encyclopedia. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. p. 136
    Permanent Collection Installations.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 63, no. 3 (2023): 12–13. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 13 archive.org
  • Animals in Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24-December 10, 2023).
  • {{cite web|title=Jacket with Octopus|url=false|author=|year=c. 1800–1868|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.66