2002 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Wood Types and Material Selection for Japanese Wooden Statues
| Project/Area Number |
11610065
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Fine art history
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| Research Institution | Tokyo National Museum |
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Principal Investigator |
KANEKO Hiroaki Supervisor, Programming, Planning and Development, Tokyo National Museum, 企画部・事業課, 事業課長 (90110098)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
IWASA Mitsuharu Chief Curator, Japanese Sculpture, Japanese Fine Arts, Curatorial, Tokyo National Museum, 学芸部・美術課, 彫刻室長 (10151713)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1999 – 2002
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| Keywords | wooden statues / wood types / material selection / Torreya nucifera / Santalum album / haku / wooden frame in dry lacquer statue / wooden frame in clay statue |
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| Research Abstract |
We showed in the first report that, while Cinnamomum camphora was the basic material for wooden statues in the 7th century, statues of the 8th century were made not of Chamaecyparis obtusa, but of Torreya nucifera contrary to former reports. The selection of Torreya nucifera as the material for statue sculpturing was explained as follows.
In ancient India, Santalum album(白檀) was prized. But, in China where Santalum album does not grow, "haku"(栢) was selected as the substitute for Santalum album during the Tang Dynasty. This selection must have been introduced into Japan when Ganjin(鑑真) came to Japan in the 8th century. In Japan, however, Torreya nucifera was regarded as "haku" as first as the early half of the 8th century and must have been selected as the substitute of Santalum album.
In the present report, we studies statues ranging from in date the Nara to the early Heian Periods, including not only those made of wood but also dry lacquer and clay works with a wooden frame inside. For statues made from one timber, the major type of this period, Torreya nucifera was selected not only in the Kinki District , but in other districts where the tree was available, irrespective of statue size or sculpturing style. In areas where Torreya nucifera did not grow or were few, such as the Tohoku District, other trees such as Zelkova serrate was employed. For statues of the other types, Chamaecyparis obtusa, Zelkova serrate, and Paulownia tomentosa were selected. Thus, dry-lacquer and clay statues were made under a different intention from one-timber statues. The present results of timber selection denied the theory that one-timber statues of the Nara and Heian Periods derived from wood-base-dry lacquer statues by thinning the lacquer layer.
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Research Products
(2 results)
