Dry lacquer wood carving

…Following this revival of woodcarving, in the early Heian period, wooden statues were produced in large numbers using soft coniferous woods with straight grains, such as cypress and kaya, and woodcarving became the mainstream of statues throughout the history of Japanese sculpture thereafter. Wooden statues from the late 8th century to the early 9th century can be broadly divided into so-called pure woodcarvings, which are finished with the beauty of the wood grain and the carving marks, either in the form of bare wood or with simple coloring, and dry lacquer woodcarvings, which are woodcarvings with a thin layer of wood lacquer, following in the footsteps of wooden core dry lacquer statues. Representative relics of the former include the Yakushi Nyorai standing statue at Jingo-ji Temple in Kyoto, the Yakushi Nyorai seated statue at Shin-Yakushi-ji Temple in Nara, and the Eleven-Headed Kannon standing statue at Hokke-ji Temple in the same temple, while examples of the latter include the statues in the lecture hall at To-ji Temple (Kyoogokoku-ji Temple) in Kyoto, which was opened in 839 (Jowa 6), and the Nyoirin Kannon statue at Kanshin-ji Temple in Osaka Prefecture. …

*Some of the terminology used in relation to "dry lacquer wood carving" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…　この木彫再興の気運をうけて平安時代初期には，ヒノキやカヤなど木目の通った軟質の針葉樹材を用いた一木造の像が盛んに製作され，木彫は以後の日本彫刻史を通じて造像の主流となった。8世紀末から9世紀前半ころの木彫像は，素木のままや簡単な彩色を加えるだけで，木肌の美しさや彫痕を生かして仕上げたいわゆる純粋木彫と，木心乾漆像の流れをくんだ木彫に薄く木屎漆を盛って仕上げた乾漆系木彫とに大別される。前者の代表的遺品には京都神護寺薬師如来立像，奈良新薬師寺薬師如来座像，同法華寺十一面観音立像などがあり，後者には839年(承和6)開眼の京都東寺(教王護国寺)講堂諸像，大阪府観心寺如意輪観音像などがある。…

※「乾漆系木彫」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

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