An original edo era woodblock of the first four pages from a Japanese book. The first page, (right side of the photos 7 – 11) gives the title, which my very educated Japanese wife could not read. This is older Japanese kanji or more likely older Chinese kanji characters. If anyone can read this we would like to know. Older Japanese woodblock book pages were printed on one sheet of paper then folded over to make two pages. The second page of this book is the left side of the woodblock in photos 7 – 11. This is a full sized page of an intricately carved scene of a village in the mountain. Page three would be the other side of the woodblock (right side photos 1 – 6) And features incredibly small but distinct and readable kanji characters most likely of the story describing what’s happening in the carved illustration. The fourth page would be the left side of photos 1 – 6 and is another intricate carved scene of a village in a mountain. Ood blocks were the only way the Japanese knew to print documents / books or pictures until the late 1800’s. After that they went to movable type and lithographs. Often these woodblocks would be used and then eventually the wood would be planed down and used / carved again for something else. This was because having the right kind of tight grained seasoned Japanese cherry wood was valuable. Consequently there are not a lot of these around, most of them eventually being destroyed. Because most of Japan’s city’s were burned during WW2, this would have resulted in a lot of them disappearing also. Most printing was done in the cities. When these were made a calligrapher would be called to do the writing / design. The wood carvers would then copy that writing / design exactly. (So it would print correctly) These are a work of art and skill. This is a relatively rare item. We have a small personal collection we will be listing. It’s 16 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches (42.5 x 19.5 cm) and 3/4 inch thick (2 cm). The item “Antique Edo Era JAPANESE TWO SIDED WOOD CARVED HANGI / Mountain Village Scenery” is in sale since Friday, November 6, 2020. This item is in the category “Antiques\Asian Antiques\Japan\Prints”. The seller is “lsjapanstuff” and is located in Alhambra, California. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Featured Refinements: Japanese Woodblock Print
- Region of Origin: Japan
- Age: 1800-1849
- Primary Material: Wood
- Original/Reproduction: Antique Original