Mechtild Mertz

30
Documents
Identifiants chercheurs

Présentation

The research project focuses on the study of Japanese and Chinese

religious wooden sculpture. It aims in particular to improve the knowledge of their regional geographical origin and their period of manufacture, important but often lost data. It concerns Buddhist, Shinto and Taoist sculpture. Included in the latter category are statues of ancestors for domestic cultic use, as well as Taoist masters and local and national deities. The project initially focuses on pieces held in Western collections, in anticipation of one day having access to Chinese national collections. Since the Buddhist sculptures preserved in Japan have been the subject of in-depth studies by Japanese researchers, Shinto statuary, which is still little explored, is given priority. A multidisciplinary approach is developed along four axes. The first is based on an innovative methodology applied to a large scale in Japan; it is based on techniques developed in wood anatomy. The second is based on a classical, stylistic and iconographic analysis of Buddhist sculpture. The wealth of information collected from woodworkers during the doctoral research leads in the third place to extend this fieldwork to sculptors of religious statuary, as close as possible to the material and the technique. The fourth axis envisages a cooperation with sinologists to exploit ancient texts that refer to the symbolism of wood species in religious sculpture; this approach has so far not been the subject of any systematic research. The data collected will be organized within a multilingual database to facilitate their exploitation. It will be put online to allow a broad and international access to researchers, historians, archaeologists, conservators and curators.

Publications

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Publications

Image document

Wood identification of Japanese and Chinese wooden statues owned by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA

Suyako Tazuru , Mechtild Mertz , Takao Itoh , Junji Sugiyama
Journal of Wood Science, 2022, 68 (1), pp.11. ⟨10.1186/s10086-022-02020-x⟩
Article dans une revue hal-03596830 v1
Image document

A Group of Twelfth-Century Japanese Kami Statues and Considerations of Material Intentionality: Collaborative Research Among Wood Scientists and Art Historians

Mechtild Mertz , Suyako Tazuru , Shirō Itō , Cynthea J. Bogel
Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University, 2022, 7, pp.127-158. ⟨10.5109/4843145⟩
Article dans une revue hal-03778776 v1
Image document

Mogami Tokunai’s wood collection from Hokkaido, Japan: an early record of Ainu wood culture

Pieter Baas , Tomoyuki Fujii , Nobushige Kato , Mechtild Mertz , Shuichi Noshiro et al.
IAWA Journal, 2021, 42 (4), pp.349-364. ⟨10.1163/22941932-bja10057⟩
Article dans une revue halshs-03320588 v1

Wood identification of Chinese Buddhist statues in the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Suyako Tazuru , Mechtild Mertz , Takao Itoh , Junji Sugiyama , Hiromi Kinoshita
日本文化財科学 - Scientific studies on cultural properties, 2021, 83, pp.109-119
Article dans une revue hal-03353197 v1
Image document

Wood Identification of Ancient Temple Structures in Ladakh, Located in the Western Himalayas

Mechtild Mertz
International Journal of Wood Culture, 2021, 1 (1), pp.3-27. ⟨10.1163/27723194-20210003⟩
Article dans une revue halshs-03320387 v1

Publication d’un ouvrage sur la culture du bois au Japon

Mechtild Mertz
2021, pp.21
Article dans une revue (compte-rendu de lecture) hal-03192878 v1

Teahouse Carpenters

Mechtild Mertz
Kyoto Journal, 2021, 100 Views of Kyoto - a tribute, 100, pp.101
Article dans une revue hal-03355133 v1

フィラデルフィア美術館蔵の日本の神像における樹種識別調査例 Wood Identification of a Japanese Deity Statue of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Suyako Tazuru , Mechtild Mertz , Takao Itoh , Junji Sugiyama
SPring-8: Scientific Research Report, 2017, SPring-8 Section A: Scientific Research Report, 7 (2), ⟨10.18957/rr.7.2.216⟩
Article dans une revue halshs-03607300 v1

Wood Species used in Traditional Japanese Architecture

Mechtild Mertz
Archiv Weltmuseum Wien, 2015, Archiv Weltmuseum Wien, 65, pp.188-195
Article dans une revue hal-02994911 v1

WOOD SELECTION OF ANCIENT TEMPLES IN THE SIKKIM HIMALAYAS

Mechtild Mertz , Sangeeta Gupta , Yutaka Hirako , Pimpim De Azevedo , Junji Sugiyama
IAWA Journal, 2014, 35 (4), pp.444-462. ⟨10.1163/22941932-00000077⟩
Article dans une revue hal-03320982 v1
Image document

Identification des bois de huit sculptures chinoises et de deux sculptures japonaises conservées aux MRAH

Mechtild Mertz , Takao Itoh
Bulletin des Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, 2005, Bulletin des Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, 76, pp.148-176 et 217-224
Article dans une revue hal-03088112 v1

Datation d'une statue d'Amida-nyorai exposée au musée Guimet

Mechtild Mertz
Arts Asiatiques, 1995, 50 (1), pp.94-104. ⟨10.3406/arasi.1995.1373⟩
Article dans une revue halshs-02988116 v1

How four Types of Japanese Carpenters make Use of the Wealth of their Country’s Wood Species

Mechtild Mertz
Interdisciplinary meeting on wood and societies, Paul Bacoup + Juliette Taïeb, Oct 2021, Paris, France, France. pp.308-315, ⟨10.21494/ISTE.OP.2023.1042⟩
Communication dans un congrès hal-04325684 v1
Image document

Archaeometrical contributions in the Japanese architecture in France

Muriel Bordessoulles , Catherine Lavier , Elsa van Elslande , Laurence de Viguerie , Jean-Sébastien Cluzel et al.
2nd International symposium WoodSciCraft 2016, Sep 2016, Kyoto, Japan
Communication dans un congrès hal-03447734 v1

Ki 木 le bois

Mechtild Mertz
Philippe Bonnin, Nishida Masatsugu 西田雅嗣, Inaga Shigemi 稲賀繁美. Vocabulaire de la spatialité japonaise 日本の生活空間, CNRS Éditions, 2014, 978-2-271-08059-2
Chapitre d'ouvrage halshs-02996003 v1
Image document

A Study of the Wood Species of 73 Deity Sculptures of the Hunan Province, from the Patrice Fava Collection

Mechtild Mertz , Takao Itoh
Religions and local society - Interdisciplinary Studies Hunan Province, Cahiers d’Extrême- Asie 19, pp.183-214, 2010
Chapitre d'ouvrage halshs-02986891 v1

Analysis of Wood Species in the Collection

Mechtild Mertz , Takao Itoh
Wisdom Embodied - Chinese Buddhist and Taoist Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, , pp.216-225, 2010, 978-1-58839-399-9
Chapitre d'ouvrage halshs-02986696 v1

中国由来の仏像彫刻の用材 Chûgoku yurai no butsuzô chôkoku yôzai

Mechtild Mertz
木の文化と科学 Wood Culture and Science, Kaiseisha, pp.105-120, 2008, 木の文化と科学 Wood Culture and Science, 978-4-86099-225-5
Chapitre d'ouvrage halshs-03096552 v1

Identification microscopique du bois, un regard sur l'âme de bois de la sculpture bouddhique chinoise et japonaise

Mechtild Mertz
Antoine Parlebas. Les Rencontres de l'ARSET La Conservation - Restauration des oeuvres asiatiques, 2, A.R.S.E.T.; Association des Restaurateurs de Sculptures de l'École de Tours, pp.25-40, 65, 2007, La Conservation - Restauration des oeuvres asiatiques, 978-2-9522528-1-2
Chapitre d'ouvrage hal-03336227 v1
Image document

The Study of Buddhist Sculptures from Japan and China Based on Wood Identification

Mechtild Mertz , Takao Itoh
Janet G. Douglas, Paul Jett, and John Winter. Scientific Research on the Sculptural Arts of Asia Proceedings of the Third Forbes Symposium at the Freer Gallery of Art, 3, Archetype Publications in association with the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp.198-204, 2007, Scientific Research on the Sculptural Arts of Asia - Proceedings of the Third Forbes Symposium at the Freer Gallery of Art, 978-1-904982-20-3
Chapitre d'ouvrage hal-02994701 v1

Redécouvrir le bois: une approche technique, esthétique et artistique des traditions artisanales

Mechtild Mertz
Pascal Griolet et Michael Lucken. Japon pluriel 5 - Actes du cinquième colloque de la Société française des études japonaises, 5, pp.191-197, 2004, Japon pluriel 5 - Actes du cinquième colloque de la Société française des études japonaises, 2-87730-717-4
Chapitre d'ouvrage hal-03334724 v1

Le travail du bois

Mechtild Mertz
69, La lettre de la bibliothèque de la Maison de la culture du Japon à Paris. 2023, pp.3
Rapport halshs-04311008 v1
Image document

Case study of Wood Identification of Japanese Shinto Statues Owned by the Honolulu Museum of Art

Suyako Tazuru , Mechtild Mertz
[Research Report] 19,6, Spring-8 /SACLA Research report. 2021
Rapport (rapport de recherche) hal-03353184 v1

Wood species identification of the sculptures of Anjô-ji temple

Mechtild Mertz , Takao Itoh
[Technical Report] Kyoto University. 2008
Rapport (rapport technique) halshs-03096582 v1