Nantei gafu 楠亭画譜

FSC-GR-780.462.1-3

Commentary by Ellis Tinios

Posted August 1, 2017

“Genre books” (jinbutsu gafu 人物画譜; literally “albums of figures”) were in vogue from around 1800 into the 1830s, and they record the daily life of all classes in contemporary Japan. Nantei gafuis the second major “genre book” to appear, following closely on the success of the first part of Yamaguchi Soken’s Yamato jinbutsu gafu (FS-C-GR-780.767.1-2) of 1799. Each of these titles is in three large-format (ōhon) volumes printed in line only.Nantei gafu is distinguished from its predecessor by the incorporation of kyōka (comic verse) into each of its forty-nine illustrations. The scenes—all set in Kyoto—span the year progressing from high summer through to the snowy depths of winter and back to high summer. The overhelming majority of the scenes are set out of doors, primarily in the streets of the city. Nantei brings to life the vibracy of Kyoto street life: festive processions, day and night markets, street performers, and crowd scenes with tremendous verve. The few interior scenes are also full of noisy activity with an emphasis on convivial gatherings of men being catered to by professional women entertainers in restaurants and brothels.

The book begins the portrayal of a distinctly Kyoto practice: enjoying the evening cool on the bed of the Kamo River that runs north to south through the city (vol. 1, pp. 6–7 on the website). Each year for a limited period in mid-summer, the authorities permitted restaurateurs, food vendors, acrobats, and theatre troups to set up platforms and trade in the bed of the much diminished Kamo River. This transient entertainment district became emblematic of Kyoto during the Edo period. We find it depicted, for example, in the Edo-based ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Kunisada’s Natsu no Fuji (Actors like Fuji in summer, 1829), where a group of visiting kabuki actors are seen dining on one of the riverbed platforms. Another iconic moment in the Kyoto calendar is the performance of kyōgen (comic plays) in the grounds of Mibudera, a Buddhist temple established in the tenth century. While the plays are comic, they contain moral lessons in line with Buddhist teachings. Nantei’s illustration succeeds in capturing the energy of one of these kyōgen performance (vol. 1, pp. 28–29).

On page after page Nantei conveys the bustle and cacophony of Kyoto life, and the sheer exuberance of its inhabitants. See, for example, the group of youths diving and swimming in the river (vol. 1, pp. 22–23), the samurai racing their ponies (vol. 1, pp. 22–23), a raucous file of medicant Buddhist monks (vol. 2, pp. 22–23) or the traders and porters at the fish market (vol. 1, pp. 20–21). All are drawn in a flowing, lively style that perfectly conveys the sense of figures in motion. Nantei also repeatedly demonstrates his mastery of complex compositions in which the individual members of a large group interact with one another in a variety of sharply observed ways.

The preface by Hanbyakuan 半百菴 (dates unknown) indicates that Nantei invited the composition of kyōka to compliment his images. It is likely that drafts of the forty-nine scenes were presented to selected amateur poets. The verses they wrote in response were skillfully incorporated into the block-ready drawings by an accomplished calligrapher. The latter employed a thin, spikey style that sets off Nantei’s bold, fluent brushwork. At a later date, all but one of the poems were excised from the printing blocks (see FSC-GR-780.464.1-3). The sole survivor is the poem written by Nantei himself, which appears on the final opening.

The Pulverer copy is a decent printing with some wormage (repaired) and light soiling This copy had been in the collection of of the Frenchman E. Gillet (dates unknown), who encased it—as he did all of his Japanese books—within custom-made hard covers that were covered inside and out with fine antique silk brocades.

Selected readings:
Louise Norton Brown, Block Printing & Book Illustration in Japan (London: George Routledge & Sons, Ltd.: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1924).

Jack Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book, 2 vols. (London: Sotheby’s Publications by Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd., 1987), esp. vol. 2, pp. 690, 693–95.

Roger S. Keyes, Ehon: The Artist and the Book in Japan (The New York Public Library in association with the University of Washington Press, 2006).

Owen E. Holloway, Graphic Art of Japan: The Classical School (London: Alec Tiranti,1957).

C. H. Mitchell, with the assistance of Osamu Ueda, The Illustrated Books of the Nanga, Maruyama, Shijo and Other Related Schools of Japan. A Biobibliography (Los Angeles: Dawson’s Book Shop, 1972).

Kenji Toda, Descriptive Catalogue of the Japanese and Chinese Illustrated Books in the Ryerson Library of the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: 1931; repr., Mansfield Centre, CT: Martino Publishing, 2004).

Copies in other collections:

British Museum, London (multiple copies)

Ebi Collection (private) (see Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University online database)

New York Public Library, New York (multiple copies)