著者

久野 健

雑誌

美術研究 = The bijutsu kenkiu : the journal of art studies

巻号頁・発行日

no.204, pp.11-28, 1960-01-25

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Jōraku-ji Temple at Ashina, Zushi in Kanagawa Prefecture owns five old Buddhist statues, namely the Amida (Amitabha) Triad, Bishamon Ten (Vaisravana) and Fudō Myōō (Acala), which were registered in 1926 as Important Cultural Properties. We made researches on these statues on April 20, 1959, when we discovered, from the inside of the statue of Bishamon Ten, a tablet with inscription stating that it was carved in 1189 by Unkei and his ten assistants. The tablet, 71.5cm. in height and having a long handle in shape of a lotus stalk, has a circle and lotus petals below it drawn in black ink, with the Sanskrit monogram representing Tamon Ten inscribed within the circle. A dharani (magic formula) in Sanskrit is inscribed from its obverse surface through sides to reverse surface, and the reverse side has an inscription to the following effect : “This statue was made on March 20, 1189, at the behest of Taira-no-Yoshimori, by Unkei, the Dai Busshi (Major Sculptor) with the ecclesiastic rank of Kōtō in the Shōō-in Monastery at Kōfuku-ji, assisted by ten minor sculptors. This inscription was written by the priest Jinsai Jōkabō.” Both from the calligraphic and literary styles of the inscription, the tablet is evidently datable to somewehere around 1189. This does not necessarily mean that the tablet was prepared for the present statue. The tablets discovered from inside the statues of Bishamon Ten and Fudō Myōō in Ganjōju-in Temple in Shizuoka, with inscriptions containing the name of Unkei and dates of 1186, were approximately similar in the style of narration to that of Jōraku-ji, but at the time of their registration as National Treasures it was judged that the tablets were original but the statues were of a later period. It is hardly believable, however, that such an exceptional case, that statues are later and the tablets placed inside alone are old, should have occured two times with Unkei. Moreover, the Bishamon Ten at Jōraku-ji clearly shows the style of the Early Kamakura Period. The author believes that the tablet under discussion has always belonged to the present statue. The Amida Triad in the same temple also is inscribed on the inside with the same dharani as the one found on the tablet for the Bishamon Ten. The inscription is obviously by the same hand as the Bishamon Ten tablet. It can be asserted with considerable accuracy that the triad as well as the Fudō Myōō in Jōraku-ji were also carved by Unkei in 1189. The discovery of the tablet, thus, has added as many as five specimens to less than ten statues which have heretofore been known as genuine works of Unkei. The author furthermore suggests that the Amida, Bishamon Ten and Fudō Myōō in Ganjōju-in, from the last two of which were discovered the tablets dated 1186, can possibly be also by Unkei. He discusses also about the Eight Messengers of Fudō in the Fudō-dō Hall at Kōyasan, Wakayama, as follows. Six of the Eight Messengers are attributed in an old record to Unkei, but many scholars have been sceptial about this attribution. The author and his colleagues made X-ray examination of the statues some years ago and found that they contained discs on lotus pedestals which were similar in form to that drawn on the tablet of Bishamon Ten in Jōraku-ji. He thinks that the Eight Messengers at Kōyasan have to be re-studied. It has not been known when Unkei was conferred with the title Dai Busshi. The tablets in Jōraku-ji and Ganjōju-in prove that it was between May 3, 1186 and March 20, 1189. The Jōraku-ji tablet, especially, is an important source of information concerning the connection Unkei had with Kōfuku-ji Temple in Nara.

著者

久野健著

出版者

吉川弘文館

巻号頁・発行日

1984

著者

久野 健

雑誌

美術研究 = The bijutsu kenkiu : the journal of art studies

巻号頁・発行日

no.281, pp.1-15, 1972-10-01

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Among the sculptures of the Nara Period. inscribed examples are rare. The group of images of the Twelve Divine Generals (Twelve Escorts of Bhaisajyaguru) of the Shin-yakushiji includes one of these rare examples. The pedestal of one of the images, that of Aṇḍira, has a noteworthy inscription which suggests that the group of statues was made by a private workshop. The inscription on the pedestal states that it was made for the donor's parents and ancestors. The author considers this group of image to be unique and valuable material, as most of the Nara Period statues are productions of public workshops. Granted that this presumption that the group is by a private workshop is right, the skill of the artists in the private workshops is certainly not inferior to that of the artists in the public workshops engaged in production for government temples. The author points out that the structure of these clay figures is quite different from that of the Nara Period clay figures, which are supposed to have been made by public workshops, such as the Four Lokapālas of the Kaidan-in in the Tōdaiji and the Vajrapāni of the Sangatsudō in the Tōdaiji. Such works have a void space inside their torsos to reduce the weight of the upper half of the figures, and the vegetable coils used as an aid for applying clay to the details of the arms are much more intricate in these examples than in the Divine Generals. On the other hand, the torsos of the Divine Generals are not hollow and they have only nominal use of underclay vegetable coils for their arms. The author discusses in the present paper the supposed process of production of the Twelve Divine Generals of the Shin-yakushiji, based on the X-ray photographs of one of the figures, Catura. The production of this figure was perhaps started with the central wooden post which forms the main core of the head and the body. Then other wooden sticks which compose the core of the legs are attached to it. Two horizontal and two vertical wooden members are further added to the body part. Additionally, two more horizontal members are used to support the shoulders. A wooden core for the left arm is attached to this framework and another short wooden core for the left hand is jointed to it with clamps and nails. Further, the wooden cores for the fingers have short metal wires, perhaps copper wire, stuck into their tips. The flaring sleeve end along the upper arm is provided with metal wires and metal plates stuck into the wooden core. The wooden core of the forearm has vegetable coils roughly wound around the core. They are all aids for applying clay. The upper part of the right arm has a wooden core also attached to the above mentioned framework and the forearm has a separate wooden core. The structure of the right hand is the same as the left one. The flaring sleeve end of the right arm is provided with metal plates as subsidiary cores. The forearm has vegetable coils wound around the core in the same way as the left forearm. The rough shape of the statue was formed by applying clay mixed with temper to this skeleton. Then the details were formed by coating layers of clay over it and the final finish was done with finer clay, according to the author's analysis. In order to avoid monotony, the artist or the artists of this group of statues paid attention to changes of movement in each figure and in the form and treatment of details such as their hair and countenence. And their intention is well achieved. Generally speaking, their condition of preservation is good. Though the surface colours are very much flaked off, even many of the fragile fingers keep their original form. Some of the figures have later repairs at some places where the original clay has been lost. But the figures of Kumbhīra, Śaṇḍira and Mihira, for instance, even retain their original coloured patterns. An old document concerning the history of the temple states that these figures of Twelve Divine Generals were not originally statues belonging to this temple, but were moved from the Iwabuchidera. There is not much likelihood that the Shin-yakushiji which was an eighth century official temple, dedicated by Empress Kōmyō in the nineteenth year of Tempyō Era (747), had such privately dedicated statues from the beginning. Therefore, these statues were probably brought from the Iwabuchidera to this temple some time later, as the document states. The present paper is accompanied by a short report by ISHIKAWA, Rikuo, "X-ray Investigation of Catura Image of the Shin-yakushiji."

著者

久野 健

雑誌

美術研究 = The bijutsu kenkiu : the journal of art studies

巻号頁・発行日

no.304, pp.29-30, 1977-03-31

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The image of Buddha-at-Birth, introduced here, was excavated at the Kuze Temple Site at Kuze, Jōyō City, near Kyoto. Jōyō City, abundant in ancient temple and in dwelling sites. is now under development as a satellite town of Kyoto and Osaka. Since February 1975, the Board of Education has excavated many of these archaeological sites, among which was the Kuze Temple Site which contained earth podiums of the Golden Hall and the Pagoda. This temple seems to have had a Hokkeji type layout of buildings. On the north side of the South Great Gate site of the temple, this image was unearthed on March 31, 1975. It is almost perfect except that its right arm which points to heaven is about to break near the elbow. A long tenon behind the head suggests that it originally had a halo, though it is now missing. Most of the images of Buddha-at-Birth from the seventh and eighth centuries are in bad condition having suffered from fire. This one, however, has no trace of having been burned and has the bright colour of gilding. This image measures 11.5 cm from the tip of the right hand pointing to heaven to the bottom of the stem of the lotus pedestal, and 7 cm from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet. As is usual with such small images, the entire image is cast in one mould, perhaps in the lost-wax technique. Thick gilding is done not only over the Buddha himself, but also over the lotus pedestal and its stem. In this paper, the author discusses the art his torical significance of the image in relation to the other Buddha-at-Birth images from the seventh and eighth centuries. Generally speaking, those of the Asuka, Hakuhō and Nara Periods gradually changed from slender proportions to more rounded proportions. The skirts of earlier ones are generally short and expose both legs; the skirts of later figures gradually became longer until they reached the ankles. At the same time, drapery-folds changed from symmetrical to more irregular and complicated forms. The image of Buddha-at-Birth excavated at the Kuze Temple Site has a comparatively long, fully modelled head with a healthy countenance and a well-built body. The skirt it wears is long and reaches the ankles. These characteristics indicate that perhaps this image is not of the Hakuhō Period but of the next Nara Period. This presumption meets with the date of the roof tiles from this temple site.

著者

秋山 光和 中山 秀太郎 久野 健

出版者

東京国立文化財研究所

雑誌

美術研究 (ISSN:00219088)

巻号頁・発行日

no.159, pp.32-48, 1951-02