2008 / Toshimasa Kikuchi / Cypress, lacquer / Private collection

The Akishinodera Temple Kanshitsuzo (dry lacquered wooden Buddha statue) made at the end of the Tempyo period (8th Century), has a unique structure even among other similar hollow dry lacquered statues. In this period where single-block wood works begin to appear, the statue’s structure exemplifies the relationship between the dry lacquer technique and wood sculpture. There are numerous mortises in which tenons are slotted in, and the variety of angles employed testifies to the high level of woodworking techniques at the time. The upper arm part is hollowed out (uchiguri) according to a structure very similar to the back-hollowing (seguri) of single-block wood sculptures, and most of the arm part is made according to the wood-core dry lacquer technique. These particularities show that numerous techniques coexisted against the background of the decline of the hollow dry lacquer technique, and that the establishment of the wood-core dry lacquer technique rests on the existence of wood sculpture.