Shōshunpō 賞春芳

FSC-GR-780.845

Commentary by Itō Shiori

Posted April 19, 2017

Original unedited text in Japanese follows

The Confucian scholar Iwagaki Ryūkei 岩垣龍渓 (1741–1808) hosted a sake banquet on the occasion of a flower-viewing (hanami) on the fifteenth of the third month of 1777 (An’ei 6). This collection of poetry illustrated with plant and landscape designs is related to that event. It is printed using shōmenzuri, or “surface printing,” a technique of surface polishing or burnishing. The title slip reads Shōshunpō jō (賞春芳帖), in which the characters 芳帖 (hōjō)are a homophone for the characters hōjō (法帖), or “calligraphy copybook.” The contributing artists can be divided into two main groups: individuals appearing in the 1775 (An’ei 4) and 1782 (Tenmei 2) Heian jinbutsu shi (平安人物志), a Who’s Who of Heian (Kyoto) personalities in the Edo period, and members of the poetry group Shōrakan (松羅館) led by Iwagaki Ryūkei and funders of this work. The publisher Hishiya Magobē (菱屋孫兵衛) released the work in the winter of 1782 as a private production, and it was later sold commercially. The block-holder’s catalogue of other books issued by Hishiya Magobē reveals that the book was sold for over thirty years from the publication of the work in 1818 (Bunsei 1) into the Ka’ei era (1848–1854). The Pulverer copy is a later printing, and the ordering of the text and images corresponds with a copy in the Kaga Archive of the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library.

The literati (nanga or bunjinga) artist Ike Taiga was good friends with Iwagaki Ryūkei, and despite Taiga’s death in 1777 one of his works is included in the book thanks to its reproduction by the physician, Confucian scholar, and artist Iwatani Sūdai 巌渓嵩台 (d. 1812). Ryūkei’s relationship with Taiga is evident from his poetry collection, Hōkanshū 抱関集, in which he states that he “viewed pictures at Ike Taiga’s home.” The Pulverer copy is believed to be one of the privately produced examples; it features an illustration of a plum by Taiga’s wife Ike Gyokuran 池玉瀾 (1727/28–1784) in the second double-page illustration (p. 4 on the website). It is thought that Gyokuran was asked to step in and assist following the death of her husband. Goshin Genmyō 悟心元明, who produced the calligraphy for the title Shōshunpō, was also close to Taiga. Moreover, Ōshima Raikin 大島來禽(dates unknown)—the only other woman artist to contribute to the book (see p. 20 on the website)—was the wife of another member of Taiga’s inner circle, Kō Fuyō 高芙蓉 (1722–1784). Such links with Taiga are seen throughout Shōshunpō jō.

書名　賞春芳
執筆者伊藤紫織

安永6年（1777）3月15日に岩垣龍渓が催した花見の酒宴にちなんだ正面摺詩文集。題箋の『賞春芳帖』の「芳帖」の音「ほうちょう」は書の「法帖」と通じる。画人は安永4年版・天明2年版『平安人物志』画家部門に載る人物と岩垣龍渓が主催した松羅館詩社中である。松羅館詩社関係者が資金を提供し、菱屋孫兵衛が携わって私家版として天明２年冬に刊行出版され、後に売品として売り出された。菱屋孫兵衛から出版された他の本の蔵版目録より刊行の30年後の文政元年（1818）から嘉永年間（1848～54）までの30年間以上販売されていたことがわかる。本書は後に売り出されたもので、絵と文の順番は東京都立中央図書館加賀文庫本、ジャック・ヒリアー氏旧蔵本と一致する。

龍渓と関係の深かった池大雅は安永6年の時点で没しているにもかかわらず、巌渓嵩台の模写によって絵が載る。龍渓の詩集『抱関集』にも「池大雅宅に画を観る」があった。私家版と思われる本は大雅の妻玉瀾の「梅図」で始まる。既に没していた大雅の代わりに玉瀾が依頼されたものと考えられる。題「賞春芳」を書いた悟心元明も大雅と親しく、玉瀾以外女流画家としてただ一人参加する大島來禽は大雅と親しい高芙蓉の妻であり、『賞春芳帖』全体に大雅とのつながりが見られる。

Selected readings:　
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), 487–88.

Itō Shiori伊藤紫織, “Shōshunpō jō to Iwagaki Ryūkei shusai Shōrakan shisha” 「『賞春芳帖』と岩垣龍渓主催松羅館詩社」, in Edo no ehon gazō to tekisuto ga ayanaseru sekai 『江戸の絵本画像とテキストが綾なせる世界』, ed. Suzuki Jun 鈴木淳 and Asano Shūgō 浅野秀剛 (Tokyo: Yagi Shoten, 2010), 355–78.

Copies in other collections:
British Museum, London
Chiba City Museum of Art
National Diet Library, Tokyo
New York Public Library
Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library (later printing)
Tokyo University of the Arts, University Library