Missed photographing this in person at the museum, but another example of the same motif: #Armor (#Gosuku), #Japan, 18th c., "shoulder guards (sode) are decorated in gold lacquer with the image of a #rabbit springing from seafoam, possibly a reference to #Chikubushima, a popular Noh play."
Metropolitan Museum of Art NY collection: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/25587