関西 五代目彫重氏がまだ真腰彫を名乗っていた頃に手掛けた、天竺徳兵衛をモチーフに取った圧巻のドンブリ。愛好家には既知であろうが、ドンブリとは手首足首にまで至る総身彫りのことで、臥煙彫りとも呼ぶ。濃淡の絶妙な配分による動きのある額が広範に描かれ、得も言われぬ迫力を生み出している。
なお、両腕およびいくつかの小品は他店の仕事となる。
A stunning donburi with the motif of Tenjiku Tokubei which was created by Kansai Horishige the 5th, when he was still calling himself Magoshibori. As is well known to enthusiasts, donburi is a type of irezumi bodysuit that extends to the wrists and ankles, and is also called gaen-bori. The dynamic gaku with exquisitely balanced dark and light shading which is applied extensively, creates an inexplicable sense of power.
Note that both sleeves and some small pieces are done by other artists.
天竺徳兵衛は江戸時代前期にインドへと渡航した実在の商人であり探検家である。しかし浮世絵、ひいては刺青の題材として用いられるのはその死後に伝説化し、歌舞伎の演目『天竺徳兵衛韓噺』の主人公として登場する架空の妖術使いとしてである。
国家転覆の使命を果たせぬまま亡くなった父の遺志とガマの妖術を受け継ぎ、徳兵衛が時の将軍である足利義政の命を狙うストーリーとなっている。
Tenjiku Tokubei was a real-life merchant and explorer who traveled to India in the early Edo period. After his death, he is handed down as a sorcerer who is the main character of the Kabuki play “Tenjiku Tokubei Kokubanashi”. It is this fictional character that is commonly used as the subject of ukiyo-e and irezumi.
In this story, Tokubei inherits the dying wish and the sorcery of the toad from his father, who failed in his mission to overthrow the nation, and attempts to kill Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the shogun of the time.
