Ehon Soga monogatari 絵本曽我物語

FSC-GR-780.93

Commentary by Suzuki Jun

Posted June 2, 2017

Original unedited text in Japanese follows

Hishikawa Moronobu is attributed with the illustrations in Ehon soga monogatari (A picture-book of the Tales of the Soga), which were printed first in black sumi ink, then hand-colored using vermillion (beni [safflower] 紅) and yellow (yamabuki [kerria] 山吹) colorants. This volume draws together the illustrated sections from chapter 12 of the woodblock-printed book, Soga monogatari 曽我物語(Tale of the Soga), and also includes some of the text folios that preceded and followed the illustrations. Each text folio has fifteen lines of kanji interspersed with hiragana.

The images comprise full-folio (double-page opening) or half-folio sheets. One example of the former is the representation of lower-ranking samurai vassals hunting on the Fuji plain (Fujino 富士野) as if in battle formation (pp. 34–35 on the website). The orientation of the composition across the entire opening produces an almost panoramic effect, and the hunting scene is framed by bands of mist and clouds along the top and bottom of the image. It could be conjectured that the illustrations are based on the style of picture scrolls from the medieval period. The images exhibit stylistic features typically encountered in traditional painting styles such as the techniques of fukinuki yatai 吹き抜け屋台(“roofless buildings”), in which the roofs of buildings are removed to offer a view into the interior from above, and hikime kagibana 引目鉤鼻(“slit eyes, hooked nose”), which depicts the faces of the aristocratic figures using straight lines for the eyes, a hooked line for the noses and tiny mouths. The inclusion of small earthen mounds (doha 土坡) is also characteristic of this style. The women are portrayed in courtly attire. That of the men varies, ranging from everyday court dress, hunting robes, ancient ceremonial court robes to the courtier robe ensemble known as kamishimo that comprises hakama trousers, a formal kimono, and a sleeveless jacket. Together they provide a glimpse into the diverse garment types worn by the warrior class. The battle scenes portray warriors in armor, on horseback, and so forth.

Scholars today generally agree that Moronobu contributed unsigned designs to a number of illustrated woodblock-printed books before the 1672 (Kanbun 12) Buke hyakunin isshu 武家百人一首(A collection of a warrior’s hundred poets, one poem each), the first publication to list him as the artist. One work attributed to Moronobu is the 1671 (Kanbun 11) reprint of Shikatabanashi (私可多咄) by the Edo publisher Urokogataya 鱗形屋 (Kakurindō 鶴鱗堂). This work and the Soga monogatari mentioned above share close similarities in terms of design and stylistic elements. The Pulverer copy is identical to a copy in the National Diet Library in Tokyo, which records the publication date in the colophon as 1671. This suggests that the Pulverer copy is of the same date. One of the collector’s seals on the Pulverer copy is from the French collector and art historian Théodore Duret (1838–1927).

書名　　絵本曽我物語
執筆者鈴木淳

菱川師宣画か。墨摺、手彩色。絵入り板本『曽我物語』十二巻の挿絵部分だけを集めた本。ただし、その前後の文字だけの若干丁も含む。絵は見開きと半丁図とから成る。見開き図の中、富士野の狩りの御家人の陣立て図などは、二丁に亘っており、パノラマのような効果を上げている。絵は、天地にすやり霞や雲形を引いた間に、吹き抜け屋台、引目鉤鼻、土坡などが伝統的、類型的な画風で描かれる。女は官女風であるが、男は直衣の公家風の他、狩衣、直垂、裃などを身に着けた武家の諸相を描き分け、合戦図では甲冑に身を包み、騎乗する姿など。全体として、中世以来の絵巻物の様式に依拠したものといえよう。師宣は、寛文十二年、最初の在銘本『武家百人一首』を刊行する以前、無銘で板本の挿絵を手懸けていた。その一つが、師宣筆とされる、寛文十一年、鱗形屋覆刻板『私可多咄』であるが、それとこの『曾我物語』と比較すると、絵柄、画趣がよく似ていることは認められてよかろう。本コレクション本と同じ国会図書館本は、寛文十一年開板の刊記を有する。漢字平仮名交じり一五行本。紅色と山吹色で手彩色を施す。

Selected readings:

Mizutani Futō 水谷不倒, Kohan shōsetsu sōga shi 『古版小説挿画史』(Tokyo: Ōokayama Shoten, 1935); later issued as vol. 5 (1974) of Mizutani Futō chosakushū 『水谷不倒著作集』8 vols. (Tokyo: Chūō Kōronsha, 1973–1977).

Copies in other collections:

National Diet Library, Tokyo

Seikadō Bunko Art Museum, Tokyo