kashirabori　頭彫

KEY WORD :　art history / paintings

Lit. head carving. The title of the master engraver and also of the engraving process by which the key block *omohan 主版 for a woodblock print *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 was created. The most vital part of the design of a woodblock print was generally the face, particularly the hair, of a figure, and the engraving of this was entrusted to a master engraver. The engraving of the bodies *doubori 胴彫 of ukiyo-e figures required less skill. In working from the block copy *hanshita 版下 of the design drawn by the artist, the engravers made numerous small modifications. This was particularly true in the case of faces, where for example the line of a nose would actually be carved only a fraction of the width it appeared in the artist's drawing . Most difficult of all was the hair *kebori 毛彫. If the name of an engraver is recorded at all on a print, it is invariably the name of the master who engraved the head.

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