This 180 year old Japanese woodblock print was floated mounted, but given the age of it we made the choice of encasing it in a Mylar pocket for protection. It’s not every day we handle a 180 year old piece of art.
Woodblock printing, a much more labour intensive process than modern printing, was first used by temple monks to reproduce and disseminate Buddhist texts more efficiently than they could be by hand.
After technological advances in the 18th century enabled printing in full colour, woodblock printing as an artistic medium began to take off.
The process of creating Japanese woodblock prints traditionally was a collaborative effort. The artist, who would have his signature on the finished print, would first create a drawing or painting which would be the original source for the finished print. The engraver then took over and traced the original drawing to create a negative, in a series of woodblocks used for printing. Sometimes multiple carvers would be used as many of the designs used multiple blocks. Polychromatic prints sometimes required as many as 20 separate woodblocks.
This project was completed to Fine Art Trade Guild Level 1 standard, and featured techniques from the following GCF Advanced modules:
- Conservation Framing
- Mount Design and Function
