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hangi 版木 | ||||||
KEY WORD : art history / paintings | ||||||
Also called ita 板. The wood used for the
curved blocks which make woodblock prints *ukiyo-e
浮世絵. Cherry wood is the principal wood used for woodblock printmaking in Japan
because the wood grain is fine and, unlike some wood which contains harder or
softer spots thoughout, cherry has an even internal consistency. Cherry thus stands
up to minute carving and hundreds of rubbings. Hardwoods like boxwood, tsuge
黄揚 are also used as they are ideal for highly detailed areas in a woodblock print
design. However, hardwoods are more expensive and difficult to obtain in large
sizes than cherry wood. The best cherry wood is that which is grown on the Izu
伊豆 coast and is known as shioboku 潮木. This wood allows for extremely smooth
cutting with the *kogatana
小刀. There are rare cases where a cross section of boxwood will be used as an inlay
when very minute carving is needed. Boxwood is also used for repair plugs. Cherry
woodblocks are manufactured by specialists who are known as itaya 板屋, the
prepared woodblocks being passed on to the carvers. The surfaces of these woodblocks
have to be absolutely level for the purpose of printing. Warping and distortions
in woodblocks do occur, however, regardless of how the wood has been seasoned
and prepared. As imperfections are revealed by the use of the blocks, they are
further seasoned in the process which makes the wood easier to carve: good woodblocks
might be planed down for yet another use. This kind of reused hangi is
called a furu-ita 古板. Also a different composition might be carved on the
back of an old block. The thickness of the original woodblock might end up less
than half of the original size. |
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(C)2001 Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System. No reproduction or republication without written permission. 掲載のテキスト・写真・イラストなど、全てのコンテンツの無断複製・転載を禁じます。 |
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