Incense Stands 1838

Yamada Hōgyoku made this woodblock print of incense stands in nineteenth-century Japan. It is an uchiwa-e, a print designed to be mounted on a fan. Note how Hōgyoku arranged the composition as if on a tabletop, allowing us to appreciate each item's texture, weight, color, and form. He combined various techniques to enrich the image, from the flat planes of color in the background to the carefully articulated edges of the objects. Look closely, and you'll see the individual marks left by the woodblock printing process. Woodblock printing demanded collaboration between the artist, block carver, and printer, with the printer layering colors in careful registration. The finished product reflects not only the artist's vision, but the skills of these anonymous craftspeople, their labor quite intensive. This print thus provides a window into the material culture of Japan, and the social relations involved in producing even an ostensibly simple image. It’s a reminder that all art objects are the result of collective effort.