Ehon masu kagami 絵本十寸鏡

FSC-GR-780.457.1-4

Commentary by Ishigami Aki

Posted December 11, 2017

Original unedited text in Japanese follows

Ehon masu kagami is an educational picture-book that depicts a woman’s life. The term masu kagami refers to a perfectly clear, unclouded mirror. The origins of the book’s title is noted in the preface: the book renders in pictures not only a woman’s face and figure, but also her entire life, reflecting like a clear mirror the good and bad parts of her inner character. The moments of a woman’s life—beginning with scenes of from her girlhood and continuing into marriage, childbirth and child-rearing—are captured in the double-page illustrations that are accompanied with explanatory text in the upper register. Seasonal events such as hanetsuki (羽根突き), a kind of Japanese badminton or shuttlecock sport played at New Year’s, and the Doll’s Festival (Hinamatsuri), as well as various arts, work, rituals, and other events are illustrated with attention to detail. Several scholars have pointed out the great influence that Sukenobu’s picture-books exerted on the work of Suzuki Harunobu (鈴木春信), and this book is no exception. In fact, over twenty compositions were later used as a basis for Harunobu’s picture-books and nishiki-e prints. [1]

The end of the last volume the Pulverer copy contains an ehon rui shomoku 絵本類書目 (catalogue of picture-books), which lists the picture-books published by Kikuya Kihē (Kikushūken 菊秀軒) and includes twenty titles on one page and eighteen on another arranged in two rows. Depending on the copy and the printing, the contents of ehon rui shomoku do vary. In fact, some printings have no shomoku. Ehon masu kagami is one of the Sukenobu picture-books included in the “library” Ehon Yamato bunko 絵本倭文庫 (Yamato archive of picture-books; see Ehon miyako zōshi FSC-GR-780.447 for a description). There is no difference in content between the anthologized version and the Pulverer copy.

There are also printings with a publication date of 1788 (Tenmei 8), such as the copy in the Abe Bunko at the Sendai City Museum (仙台市博物館安部文庫). [2] In addition, there are versions that are part of a collection of several different types of Kamigata (Kyoto/Osaka) picture-books bound under one cover. These are larger than hanshi format (typically 24 x 17 cm), and the page numbers are printed in the upper margins. There is no unified title for such volumes.

Abridged and revised printings include such works as the two-volume Ehon onna shitsuke kagami 絵本女躾鑑 (Picture-book of the paragon of training women in decorum, Nishio City Iwase Bunko), which has been printed in many colors using the stenciling technique of kappazuri (合羽摺). There are reports of a different retitled version, Ehon yasa hinazuru 絵本艶雛鶴 (Picture-book of the charms of crane chicks), but its existence has yet to be confirmed. [3]

書名絵本十寸鏡

執筆者石上阿希

女の一代記を描いた教訓絵本。「ますかがみ」とは少しの曇りもなく澄みきった鏡のこと。書名の由来は序にある通りで、女の顔かたちだけでなく、心の善し悪しを澄みきった鏡に写し、その一生を絵にしたというもの。少女時代から嫁入り、出産、子育てまでの風俗を見開き一図でそれぞれ描き、上部に説明文を配している。羽根突きやひな祭りなどの季節の行事や諸芸、労働、儀礼などが丁寧に描写されている。祐信絵本が鈴木春信の作品に大きな影響を与えていたことは諸学が指摘するところであるが、本書もその例にもれず、20 を超える構図が春信の絵本や錦絵に利用されている。[1]

プルヴェラー本は巻末に菊屋の「絵本類書目」2段28点があるが、諸本によって「絵本類書目」の内容が異なる。また、同書目がないものもある。『絵本十寸鏡』は『絵本倭文庫』に所収される絵本の一つ。所収本とプルヴェラー本との内容の異同はない。

また、天明8年 1788 刊と記録されている本もある仙台市博物館安部文庫本。[2]

この他に、数種類の上方絵本と取り合わせて一冊としたものもある。判型も半紙本より大きく、上部余白に半丁毎の番号が刷られている。統一の書名はない。

改題抄出本に『絵本女躾鑑 Ehon onnna shitsuke kagami 』岩瀬文庫蔵がある。上下二冊、合羽摺。別の改題本として『絵本艶雛鶴 Ehon yasa hinazuru 』が報告されているが、[3] 伝存を確認できていない。

Selected readings:

Fujisawa Murasaki 藤澤紫, “Harunobu ehon no shomondai: sumizuri ehon ni miru zuzō no keishō to tenkai”「春信絵本の諸問題　墨摺絵本に見る図像の継承と展開」, Musashino Bijutsu Daigaku kenkyū kiyō 29 『武蔵野美術大学研究紀要29』(January 1999), 5–14.

Matsudaira Susumu 松平進, Moronobu Sukenobu ehon shoshi『師宣西川祐信絵本書誌』(Tokyo: Seishōdō Shoten, 1988), 243–46.

Matsudaira Susumu 松平進, “Sukenobu ehon no hankō to fukyū” 「祐信絵本の版行と普及」, Ukiyo-e geijutsu 53 『浮世絵芸術53』(1977), 3–13.

Miyatake Gaikotsu 宮武外骨, Nishikawa Sukenobu gafu 『西川祐信画譜』(Osaka: Gazoku Bunko, 1911).

Suzuki Jūzō 鈴木重三, ed., Ehon masu kagami 「絵本十寸鏡」, vol. 5, Kinsei Nihon fūzoku ehon shūsei『近世日本風俗絵本集成』(Kyoto: Rinsen Shoten, 1979).

Tanabe Akiko 田辺昌子, ”Suzuki Harunobu no zugara shokuyō: Mitate no shukō to shite no saihyōka” 「鈴木春信の図柄借用　見立の趣向としての再評価」, Bijutsushi 39 『美術史39』(February 1990), 66–86.

Copies in other collections:

Art Institute of Chicago

British Museum, London

Dōshisha University, Kyoto

Kansai University Library, Osaka

Kyoto Women’s University

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Museum Volkenkunde, Leiden

Nishio City Iwase Bunko, Aichi Prefecture

Ueda City Library, Nagano Prefecture

Kansai University, Osaka

Versions included in Ehon Yamato bunko (絵本倭文庫) series:

Honolulu Museum of Art

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Nagoya University

National Diet Library, Tokyo

Ryukoku University, Kyoto

[1] Tanabe 1990 and Fujisawa 1999.

[2] See Nihon kotenseki sōgō mokuroku deetabeesu (日本古典籍総合目録データベース http://base1.nijl.ac.jp/~tkoten/)

[3] Miyatake 1911.