鳥獣人物戯画断簡(甲巻)ちょうじゅうじんぶつぎがだんかん(こうかん)

  • 平安時代
  • 12c
  • 紙本墨画
  • H-29.2 W-51.6
  • 所蔵
    高山寺伝来、酒井抱一旧蔵

平安時代後期 12世紀
紙本墨画
縦:29.2cm 横:51.6cm

四巻からなる京都・高山寺所蔵の鳥獣人物戯画のうち,勢いのある墨線を駆使して,兎猿,蛙を中心にした動物たちの擬人化されたさまざまな動きを描く甲巻はとても有名な作品である。この甲巻は,もとは二巻であったが,伝来の過程で損傷を受け,現在の甲巻は,その残存部分を一巻にしたものと推定されている。したがって,そこには脱落,錯簡があり,そのほか逸失した断簡が何点か知られている。本図は逸失断簡のうちの一点で,比較的最近知られるようになった。付属する住吉広高の鑑定書に対応する住吉家鑑定控から,本図が江戸時代後期には喜谷喜六なる者が所蔵したことが知られ,そののち明治時代には収集家として著名な長井十足の手にあった。

江戸時代に作られた模本や,かつてこの断簡と接続していた他の断簡による検討によって,この場面の内容が判明する。すなわち,秋草の間に描かれた動物は,二群に分かれ右半の左の拳をあげ,右手に持った扇を振る猿は,その前の鹿を使った競走の場から,乗り手の猿を振り落として疾駆する鹿をとどめようとしているのであり,この様子を市女笠の狐と,柑子を引きずる鼠が振り返っている。また,左半の柑子を入れた曲物を頭にのせ,子を背負った猿,扇を持つ子を肩車する蛙は,これに続く場面に描かれている蹴鞠の場へ向かう一群であり,先頭の蛙がうずくまることから,その場が近いことが知られる。

全体に墨線を主体にした画風であるが,単なる白描画ではなく,蛙の背や猿の顔,さらには女郎花や藤袴の花の部分などに墨彩的手法がみられ,墨の微妙な表現に手慣れた絵師の技量がうかがわれる。深い愛情に基づく動物観察と熟達した筆法によるデッサン力に優れた佳品である。鳥獣戯画の筆者として,鳥羽憎正(覚猷,1053-1140)の名があげられるが,図像の研究と収集とによって彼が高度の絵画技術をもち,また文献から彼が機知に富んだ風刺的な戯画を描いたことが知られるものの,鳥獣戯画を描いたということを示す直接的な証拠はない。(若杉)

Catalogue Entry

Late Heian period, 12th century
Hanging scroll, ink on paper
Height, 29.2cm; width, 51.6cm

Of the 4 scrolls of Frolicking Animals and Figures Scrolls in the collection of Kozanji, the first scroll with its thorough use of energetic ink lines and its depiction of rabbits, monkeys, frogs, and other animals imitating the actions of humans is a justly famous work. This 1st scroll was originally 2 scrolls, but with the damage that occurred over its long history, it has been posited that the present 1st scroll is made up of the remaining parts of these 2 scrolls mounted as 1 scroll. In line with this supposition, there are omissions and sections appearing out of order, and several missing fragments from this scroll are known to exist. This fragment is one of these lost fragments and has come to light relatively recently. The accompanying authentication statement by the Sumiyoshi family states that it is known that this fragment was in the possession of a certain Kitani Kiroku in the late Edo period, and then in the Meiji period, it entered the hands of the famous collector Nagai Jissoku.
A survey of copies made in the Edo period and other fragments that connect to this fragment indicate the meaning of the scene depicted in this fragment. Namely, these animals shown amongst autumn grasses can be divided into two groups, the right half centering around the monkey who raises his left hand and holds a fan in his right hand, trying to stop the wild dash of the deer who has shed his monkey rider in the previous race scene between deer steeds. This action draws the attention of the fox wearing a woman's hat and the rat who drags along fruit on a cord. The left group centers on a monkey who carries a circular box of fruit on her head and has a baby monkey slung on her back, and a frog with a baby frog riding on his shoulders and waving a fan. They are part of a group that is proceeding to the next scene of a kemari football competition. The crouched position of the frog in the foreground of this left group implies that the kemari scene is nearby.

Overall, the image is depicted in black ink lines, but it is not simply an example of line drawing; rather, the frog's back, the monkey's face, and sections of the ominaeshi and fujibakama flowers are drawn with an ink wash-like technique. Clearly this shows the talents of a painter versed in the subtle expressiveness of ink. A deeply affectionate observation of animals combines with a superb design based on brush techniques to make this a truly impressive work. These scrolls are often called the "Toba Giga," or comic paintings of Toba, implying that they were painted by Toba Sojo (Kakuyu, 1053-1140), and while there is ample evidence in Toba's extant works to indicate that he was a technically refined painter, and there is literary evidence that he painted richly satirical works, there is no direct evidence to show that he painted these so-called Toba Giga scrolls. JW