housho　奉書

KEY WORD :　art history / paintings

An abbreviation of houshogami 奉書紙, housho paper. A type of *washi 和紙 (Japanese paper). A thick, smooth, white paper made from the fiber of the mulberry tree, or kouzo 楮 (see *choshi 楮紙). The finest quality paper is of pure kouzo but most papers sold today as housho contains some wood pulp. Housho is thought to date back to the Kamakura period and the term originally meant a form of governmental decree. Instead of giving orders directly, a shougun 将軍 or person of high office would give his commands in written form without signing his name. Gradually housho came to mean the type of paper on which the orders were written. In the Edo period housho was used for most documents as well as calligraphy, and from late Edo onwards for *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 woodblock prints. As it was used by all the feudal clans, production was widespread, but of all production areas Echizen 越前 (modern Fukui prefecture) produced the highest quality paper called echizen housho 越前奉書, which was thick, white and supple (often called *masa 柾). Housho was used for special full-color prints *nishiki-e 錦絵 including many of the exquisite *surimono 摺物, individually produced Edo period works. Easily burnished, housho readily picked up gauffrage or crimping. Housho is produced in various sizes, of which the most important are *oobousho 大奉書 (large housho), chuubousho 中奉書 (medium housho), *kobousho 小奉書 (small housho) and takenaga bousho 丈長奉書 (long housho). The size of paper is suitable in format size *hangata 判型 for ukiyo-e prints . When halved lengthways housho is also used for paper scrolls makigami 巻紙. Today housho is still produced in Fukui prefecture and is used for formal documents and for printmaking.

REFERENCES:

*echizengami 越前紙.

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