Mechtild Mertz
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
Publications
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How four Types of Japanese Carpenters make Use of the Wealth of their Country’s Wood SpeciesInterdisciplinary meeting on wood and societies, Paul Bacoup + Juliette Taïeb, Oct 2021, Paris, France, France. pp.308-315, ⟨10.21494/ISTE.OP.2023.1042⟩ |
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Archaeometrical contributions in the Japanese architecture in France2nd International symposium WoodSciCraft 2016, Sep 2016, Kyoto, Japan |
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Apports de l’archéométrie à l’étude de l’architecture japonaiseXXIe colloque d'Archéométrie du GMPCA, Apr 2017, Rennes, France. |
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Archaeometrical contributions in the Japanese architecture in France: the lodges of Albert Kahn’s gardens (Boulogne-Billancourt, France)2nd International symposium WoodSciCraft 2016, Sep 2016, Kyoto, Japan. 2nd International symposium WoodSciCraft 2016, 2016 |
Anatomical Database and Atlas of Chinese WoodsHisashi MIYAUCHI. Kaiseisha Press, 4 vols., pp.2679, 2022, Takao ITOH, 9784860991968 |
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Japanese Wood and Carpentry - Rustic and RefinedKaiseisha Press, 1, pp.130, 2020, Hisashi MIYAUCHI, 978-4-86099-367-2 |
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日本の木と伝統木工芸 Nihon no ki to dentô mokkôgeiKaiseisha Press, pp.210, 2016, Hisashi Miyauchi, 978-4-86099-322-1 |
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Wood and Traditional Woodworking in JapanKaiseisha Press, pp.227, 2016, Hisashi MIYAUCHI, 978-4-86099-323-8 |
Ki 木 le boisPhilippe 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 |
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A Study of the Wood Species of 73 Deity Sculptures of the Hunan Province, from the Patrice Fava CollectionReligions and local society - Interdisciplinary Studies Hunan Province, Cahiers d’Extrême- Asie 19, pp.183-214, 2010 |
Analysis of Wood Species in the CollectionWisdom Embodied - Chinese Buddhist and Taoist Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, , pp.216-225, 2010, 978-1-58839-399-9 |
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中国由来の仏像彫刻の用材 Chûgoku yurai no butsuzô chôkoku yôzai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 |
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Identification microscopique du bois, un regard sur l'âme de bois de la sculpture bouddhique chinoise et japonaiseAntoine 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 |
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The Study of Buddhist Sculptures from Japan and China Based on Wood IdentificationJanet 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 |
Redécouvrir le bois: une approche technique, esthétique et artistique des traditions artisanalesPascal 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 |
Le travail du bois69, La lettre de la bibliothèque de la Maison de la culture du Japon à Paris. 2023, pp.3 |
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Case study of Wood Identification of Japanese Shinto Statues Owned by the Honolulu Museum of Art[Research Report] 19,6, Spring-8 /SACLA Research report. 2021 |
Wood species identification of the sculptures of Anjô-ji temple[Technical Report] Kyoto University. 2008 |