Ancient Japanese Buddhist&Shinto sculptures in rare Natabori style.

Blog entry 21th Feb. 2009 ADEYTO presents 1000 years old Japanese Buddhist and Shinto statues sculpted in the rare style called "Natabori" 鉈彫 = Hachet carvings.

A type of wooden sculpture characterized by round chisel (nata 鉈) marks that are left on the surface. Natabori are sculpted to the rough-cut (*arabori 荒彫) or fine-cut (kozukuri 小造り) stage without undergoing the finishing (shiage 仕上げ) process.

For this reason, one school of thought claims that natabori are unfinished, incompleted works, while another claims that they constitute a specific sculptural style. However, since natabori have been found within a specific region and dated to a specific period only, they are now more often considered to be completed works in their own right.

Natabori are found primarily in the Kantou 関東 region in an area of eastern Japan extending from the Chita 知多 Peninsula, Aichi prefecture in the west, to Iwate prefecture in the north, and date from the 10-13c. In western Japan sculpture with natabori features have been found, but these features only appear on a part of the sculpture, and do seem to incomplete works.

Natabori are usually made from hardwood such as the Judas tree (katsura 桂) or the zelkowa (keyaki 欅). Neither painted nor lacquered, their rough surface gives a sense of simplicity and directness.

The oldest extant example is the Yakushi Triad, Yakushi sansonzou 薬師三尊像 of Houjoubou 宝城坊, Kanagawa prefecture, which is thought to have been made in the 10c. Other examples include the Eleven-headed Kannon, Juuichimen Kannon 十一面観音 in Gumyouji 弘明寺, Kanagawa prefecture and the Shou Kannon 聖観音 in Tendaiji 天台寺, Iwate prefecture.

Atsuhiko Misawa is one of the most remarkable contemporary sculptors working today known for the wooden life-sized natabori style sculptures of animals, which are lively and humorous.

After studying sculpture at the Tokyo University of the Arts, Misawa has since exhibited his "Animals" series from 2000 onward. Awarded several prizes several times in the past, his creative activities have been justly recognized.

The most prominent characteristics of Misawa's work are its scale and modes of expression. While his almost life-size animals are created through traditional methods with which traces of the chisel are visible, their free-minded looks and unique expressions instantly win the hearts and minds of viewers.

This documentary belongs to a series called "ADEYTO -visual diary-" that began due to the fact that ADEYTO is to busy to actually write a diary entry.

Shot by ADEYTO on a digital photo camera. Created by ADEYTO.

Category:

Education

[Daibusshi]

Wonderful and very informative.  Thank you!