Inkstone - Kyoken

...A tool for making ink. It can also be written as 研. 'Suzuri' is an abbreviation of 'sumisuri'. In the Shuowen Jiezi by Xu Shen of the Later Han Dynasty, it is written that 'Inkstones are made of smooth stone, and sharpening is the process of grinding.' Most are made of stone, but they can also be made of brick, roofing tiles, pottery, porcelain, sludge, powdered stone, jade, iron, copper, silver, wood, lacquer, bamboo, etc. They are shaped like rectangles, squares, circles, ovals, and wind characters, and are given various names based on natural and man-made shapes. The surface of the inkstone is called the inkstone surface, the back is called the inkstone back, the four sides are called the inkstone side, the rim of the inkstone surface is called the inkstone edge, the top is called the inkstone neck, the place where the ink is applied is called the ink hall, ink path or inkwell, the depression where ink is stored is called the ink pond, inkstone pond or sea, the boundary between the ink hall and the inkstone pond is called the drop tide, the foot of the inkstone back is called the inkstone foot, and the gap in the inkstone back is called the insert hand or insert hand.

*Some of the terminology used in reference to "sieve-like inkstone" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…墨をする道具。研とも書く。〈すずり〉は〈すみすり〉の略。後漢の許慎の《説文解字》に，〈硯は石の滑らかなり，研は（す）るなり〉とある。多くは石で作られるが，ほかに磚（せん），瓦，陶，瓷(磁)，澄泥，石末，玉，鉄，銅，銀，木，漆，竹などで作られることもある。形は長方形，正方形，円形，楕円形，風字形のほか，自然や人工の姿にかたどって種々の名称がつけられている。硯の表面を硯面，背面を硯背，側面四囲を硯側，硯面の縁周を硯縁，頭部を硯首，墨をする所を墨堂，墨道あるいは墨岡，墨汁をためるくぼみを墨池，硯池あるいは海，墨堂と硯池の境界部を落潮，硯背の足を硯足，硯背の空隙部を挿手あるいは抄手（しようしゆ）などという。…

※「箕様硯」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。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報