“ Ishizuri ”
scene makes is of incalculable importance seeing
with what difficulty it is effaced from the mind. The
impressionable are the living. They respond to art as
an experience adding to life, not as a mere reflection
of happenings in which they have no part. It is
the respect for the audience which is so flattering
at the Savoy, the feeling that the manager believes
no art is too good for the mind of his audience, and
that a man of Mr. Norman Wilkinson’s originality
is not too august to be employed.
T. Martin Wood
A NOTE ON THE JAPANESE
PROCESS OF PRINTING
CALLED “ISHIZURI.”
The Japanese Ishizuri, which means literally
“ Stone Print,” had as its origin the process
employed by Chinese antiquarians in
order to obtain a rubbing of a picture
or writing engraved on a stone monu¬
ment. Both in China and Japan this
method was used for prints in black
and white of flowers and landscapes,
and particularly for the production of
the large prints depicting Kwannon
and other deities, which were sold to
travellers as souvenirs of their visits to
the various temples. In China, espe-
cially during the Kang-Hsi and early
Keen-Lung Dynasties, the reproduc-
tion of the works of Sung artists was
frequently accomplished by this
method. An illustration is here given
of one of such reproductions. This
same method was afterwards applied
by artists in Japan to wood-blocks,
which were used by them in place of
stone. The title of “ Stone Print ”
was, however, retained in order to
differentiate the work from the ordinary
method of printing from wood-blocks.
The procedure is apparently as fol¬
lows. Very thin paper is first sprayed
with water, then placed upon the
engraved wood-block and pressed well
into the sunken portions of the en-
graving. A printer’s pad charged with
suitable ink is then carefully applied
so that the raised portions of the paper
alone receive the colour. The print is
then “ laid down ” on a thicker paper,
and in pressing it flat the imprinted
portions of the paper, having been
somewhat stretched when pressed into the block,
assume a curious crinkled surface which it is, unfor-
tunately, impossible to show adequately in the
accompanying reproductions of prints produced by
the process.
The four studies of plant and insect life are from
a late edition of a work in two volumes by Jackuchiu
(1716-1800) entitled “Jakuchiu Gwajo.” The two
river scenes are from a makimono which depicts a
boat excursion on the river Yodo, between Kyoto and
Osaka, in the year 1767 by Taishin, the poet, and
his friend Jakuchiu, the artist. The roll, which is
many yards in length, is called “ The Pleasures of
Boating.” In this case the ink in the grey portions
was possibly applied by stencil brushes instead of
the pad. Examples of the work of Koriusai and
other artists have also been reproduced by this
method. Wilson Crewdson.
FROM “JAKUCHIU GWAJO,” PRINTED BY THE “ ISHIZURI ” PROCESS
3°7
scene makes is of incalculable importance seeing
with what difficulty it is effaced from the mind. The
impressionable are the living. They respond to art as
an experience adding to life, not as a mere reflection
of happenings in which they have no part. It is
the respect for the audience which is so flattering
at the Savoy, the feeling that the manager believes
no art is too good for the mind of his audience, and
that a man of Mr. Norman Wilkinson’s originality
is not too august to be employed.
T. Martin Wood
A NOTE ON THE JAPANESE
PROCESS OF PRINTING
CALLED “ISHIZURI.”
The Japanese Ishizuri, which means literally
“ Stone Print,” had as its origin the process
employed by Chinese antiquarians in
order to obtain a rubbing of a picture
or writing engraved on a stone monu¬
ment. Both in China and Japan this
method was used for prints in black
and white of flowers and landscapes,
and particularly for the production of
the large prints depicting Kwannon
and other deities, which were sold to
travellers as souvenirs of their visits to
the various temples. In China, espe-
cially during the Kang-Hsi and early
Keen-Lung Dynasties, the reproduc-
tion of the works of Sung artists was
frequently accomplished by this
method. An illustration is here given
of one of such reproductions. This
same method was afterwards applied
by artists in Japan to wood-blocks,
which were used by them in place of
stone. The title of “ Stone Print ”
was, however, retained in order to
differentiate the work from the ordinary
method of printing from wood-blocks.
The procedure is apparently as fol¬
lows. Very thin paper is first sprayed
with water, then placed upon the
engraved wood-block and pressed well
into the sunken portions of the en-
graving. A printer’s pad charged with
suitable ink is then carefully applied
so that the raised portions of the paper
alone receive the colour. The print is
then “ laid down ” on a thicker paper,
and in pressing it flat the imprinted
portions of the paper, having been
somewhat stretched when pressed into the block,
assume a curious crinkled surface which it is, unfor-
tunately, impossible to show adequately in the
accompanying reproductions of prints produced by
the process.
The four studies of plant and insect life are from
a late edition of a work in two volumes by Jackuchiu
(1716-1800) entitled “Jakuchiu Gwajo.” The two
river scenes are from a makimono which depicts a
boat excursion on the river Yodo, between Kyoto and
Osaka, in the year 1767 by Taishin, the poet, and
his friend Jakuchiu, the artist. The roll, which is
many yards in length, is called “ The Pleasures of
Boating.” In this case the ink in the grey portions
was possibly applied by stencil brushes instead of
the pad. Examples of the work of Koriusai and
other artists have also been reproduced by this
method. Wilson Crewdson.
FROM “JAKUCHIU GWAJO,” PRINTED BY THE “ ISHIZURI ” PROCESS
3°7