銹絵絵替角皿さびええがわりかくざら

  • 江戸時代 
  • 18-19世紀
  • 乾山陶製 
銹絵絵替角皿

銹絵絵替角皿 十枚 図録解説
 蘭、山茶花(さざんか)、牡丹、甘草、薔薇、葡萄、竹、山水と、草花山水の画題で詩画軸の世界を表す角皿の組物です。本来の乾山の意図からすれば、あくまでも詩画軸の世界をやきものという手段を用いて表現しただけのことであって、当初は食器として用いることなど夢にも考えてもいなかった……とは言い過ぎでしょうか。確かに低火度焼成の製品は高火度のものと比べると軟弱でもろく、また透明鉛釉の表面に生じた貫入からは汚れがしみ入りやすくなっています。むしろ食器としては適していないといえるでしょう。しかしながら次第に人気を博し食器を主力製品としていった二条丁子屋町時代に移行していくにしたがって、こういった軟質施釉陶系の角皿類も食器として使われるようになっていったと考えられます。
 この十枚組の角皿の箱書きには「乾山角大皿十枚 河野休左衛門様 淀大坂御城内 河内伝兵衛云々」とあり、組物の食器として納められたことがうかがい知れます。河野何某がどういう人物かはわかりませんが、箱書きはこの組物が大坂まで流通していたことを示しています。おそらく二条丁子屋町にほど近い高瀬川一之船入から船積みされて大坂まで運ばれたのでしょう。しかも舟賃は江戸払いと書いてあることから、最終江戸まで流通していたことがわかります。求める側が粋な皿として宴席に使い、さらに人気を博して需要が高まる―そんな需給関係ができ上がっていったのではないでしょうか。表面に残るシミはこれまでに何回か使われたであろうことの証し。料理を盛っても充分使用に耐えうるものがあることも確かです。「深省」白文方印の「省」の字が確認できる同手の銹絵角皿の未製品陶片が乾山聖護院窯跡(京都大学病院構内)から出土しています。

Square Dishes with Various Designs (Set of 10)

Square Dishes with Various Designs (Set of 10)
This set of square dishes presents the world of shigajiku, hanging scrolls of paintings with Chinese poems, with designs employing floral and landscape motifs: orchid, sasanqua, peony, licorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis), rose, grape, bamboo, and landscapes. Kenzan's original intention was to use these dishes as a means for bringing the world of the shigajiku to ceramics. He did not, we may assume, initially think that these works would be used for serving food. These low-fired products are more fragile than high-fired wares, and dirt readily penetrates the crackles that form on the transparent lead glaze surface. These, in fact, are not well suited for use as tableware. Nonetheless, as Kenzan's career shifts to the Nijo Chojiyamachi period, when his work had become popular and tableware a major part of his product line, even these low-fired, glazed square dishes came, it is thought, to be used for serving food.
The box for this set of ten square dishes has "Ten large Kenzan square dishes / Kono Kyuzaemon / in Yodo-Osaka Castle / Kono Denbei etc." on its lid. We thus know that these were delivered as a tableware set. Who this Kono was we do not know, but the writing on the box does tell us that this set was sent to Osaka. It is likely that shipments were loaded on boats at the Takase River's Ichinofunairi wharf for transport to Osaka. Since it is noted that the shipping cost would be paid in Edo, we know that these sets ultimately were distributed as far away as Edo. The customers used these as stylish dishes at banquets, and their growing popularity generated rising demand. The stains on the surfaces of these dishes are evidence that they were used repeatedly and that they were fully adequate for use in serving food. The "sei" of the "Shinsei" square Intaglio seal has been identified on a shard of an unfinished square dish with underglaze iron decor excavated at Kenzan's Shogoin kiln site (on the Kyoto University Hospital grounds).