明治陶磁の人物文様というテーマで、陶磁器に描かれる人物が、時代が下るにつれて、唐人や貴族・武士といった外国や支配階級の人々から町民や農民などの庶民に変わっていくということを以前書きました。その意味では、そうした庶民の生活の一齣を積極的に画題としたのは、九谷庄三を嚆矢とすると言っても良いかもしれません。
庄三は、1816年（文化13）に寺井宿の貧しい農家に生まれ、幼名を庄七と言い、通称茶屋の庄七とか茶屋の岩松と呼ばれていたそうです。それは、ひどく貧しい暮らしだったため、口減らしのために赤ん坊の頃から茶屋の与三郎に預けられたからと言われています。 その後、再興九谷の一つの若杉窯へ奉公に出され、当初は使い走りとして働いていたようですが、研究熱心で負けじ魂の努力家だった庄七は、呉須摺りから始まって、三田勇次郎から赤絵の細書きを学び、粟生屋源右衛門から烙陶を学び、藪六右衛門から白磁の製法と上絵付けを学び、特に若杉窯主工の三田勇次郎からは多くを学んだようです。 努力の甲斐あり、庄七は小野窯に主工として招かれるまでになります。九谷焼の歴史の中で、小野窯の名声が高いのは、庄七が小野窯で多くの名作を残したためと言われています。 しかし、庄七も小野窯時代には、花鳥風月の他には竹林七賢人や七福神あるいは酒呑童子などを画題とした作品が多かったのですが、庄三と名乗るようになった嘉永の頃から、汐汲み女、茶摘み女、田植えの百姓、釣り人などの庶民を画題にした作品が増えていったようです。
因みに、庄三の作品には贋作が多いのですが、多くの庄三の作品を見れば、贋作は一目で見分けがつくようになります。贋作の殆どは、庄三の割絵の構図や画題だけを真似ただけであり、絵付けも粗雑です。昔、なんでも鑑定団というテレビ番組に庄三の贋作が出品されたことがあります。その作品の鑑定をした中島誠之助が、「庄三の描く作品からは、市井の人々のさわさわとした話し声や囁き声や衣擦れの音が聞こえてくるんです。贋作ではまったくそれが聞こえてきません」というようなことを言っていました。同感です。本物の技術的な細かい特徴や銘の特徴などを語ることもできますが、一言で言えば、そういうことだと思います。 さて、今日は私のコレクションの中から、そういった庶民の声が聞こえてきそうな庄三の大皿をご紹介させて頂きます。
釣りをしながら世間話をしている男たち。洗濯物を持ってせわしなく小走りしている母親と子供。声が聞こえてくるようではありませんか。
Regarding the theme of human figures depicted on Meiji-era ceramics, I previously wrote about how the subjects of these figures shifted over time from foreigners and members of the ruling classes, such as Chinese figures, aristocrats, and samurai, to common townsfolk and farmers. In this sense, it could be said that actively choosing scenes from the lives of ordinary people as subjects began with Kutani Shoza.
Shoza was born in 1816 (Bunka 13) into a poor farming family in Terai-juku. His childhood name was Shoshichi, and he was commonly called “Chaya no Shoshichi” or “Chaya no Iwamatsu.” This was because, due to the family’s extreme poverty, he was sent away to be cared for by a man named Yosaburo, who ran a teahouse (Chaya) from the time he was an infant—reportedly to reduce the family expenses to feed children.
Later, Shoshichi was sent to apprentice at the Wakasugi kiln, one of the sites associated with the revival of Kutani ware. Initially, he worked as a general helper, but Shoshichi, who was a dedicated researcher and a tenaciously hard worker, began by learning gosu suri (a method of preparing cobalt blue pigment). He studied fine red overglaze decoration under Mita Yujiro, learned underglaze techniques from Aoya Gen’emon, and gained knowledge of white porcelain production and overglaze techniques from Yabu Rokuemon. Of these, he especially learned much from Mita Yujiro, the head craftsman of the Wakasugi kiln.
Shoshichi's efforts bore fruit, and he was eventually invited to become the head craftsman at the Ono kiln. The fame of the Ono kiln in the history of Kutani ware is said to owe much to the masterpieces Shoshichi created there. However, during his time at the Ono kiln, Shoshichi mainly produced works featuring birds, flowers, and landscapes, as well as themes like the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, the Seven Lucky Gods, and Shuten-doji.
It wasn’t until around the Kaei era (1848–1854), when he began using the name Shoza, that his works began to feature subjects such as women drawing seawater, tea-pickers, farmers planting rice, and fishermen—scenes of ordinary people.
Incidentally, many counterfeit works of Shoza exist, but after seeing many of his authentic works, one can easily distinguish the fakes. Most counterfeits merely imitate Shoza’s compositional style and themes, and their painting is crude. Once, a counterfeit Shoza piece was submitted to the TV program Antiques Appraisal Show. During the appraisal, art expert Seinosuke Nakajima remarked, “In Shoza’s genuine works, you can almost hear the lively conversations, whispers, and rustling clothes of the townsfolk he depicts. Counterfeits lack this entirely.” I completely agree. While one could analyze technical details or specific characteristics of his signatures, it all boils down to this point.
Now, let me introduce one of Shoza’s plates from my collection that seems to capture the very voices of ordinary people.
Depicted are men chatting as they fish, and a mother hurriedly walking with her child, carrying laundry. Can’t you almost hear their voices?
