hastened the downfall of the art. Quite recently the broadsides of Gekkō and one or two other living artists have given hopes of revival, like those fine days which, in late autumn, sometimes make us think that summer is coming back.
The tools used by Japanese wood engravers and printers are few and simple. The picture, drawn upon thin translucent paper, is pasted face dawnwards upon a plank of wood, usually cherry or box wood—sawn in the direction of the grain instead of across it, as in Europe—and scraped till every detail of the design becomes visible. The thin remaining layer is then slightly oiled, and the work of engraving begins, the borders of the outline being incised first with a knife, and the spaces between the lines of the drawing excavated by means of chisels and gouges. The block is then washed and is ready for use. The printer applies the ink or colour with a brush, and the impressions are taken upon specially prepared paper by rubbing with a flat padded disc, worked by hand pressure. Certain gradations of tone, and even polychromatic effects may be produced from a single block, and uninked blocks are often used for the purpose of embossing portions of the design. The effect of printing from two or more blocks was obtained in some cases by preparing a single block with ink of different colours, or with different shades of the same colour. At other times a lighter tint was obtained by simply wiping portions of the block. In the ordinary colour-prints the effects are obtained by the use of a number of additional blocks engraved in series from copies of the impression taken from the first or outline block. Correctness of register is secured, simply but effectually, by means of a rectangular nick and guiding-line repeated at the corner and edge of each successive block.
The names of the following seven leaders in the development of Japanese wood engraving may be useful to collectors:—Hishigawa Moronobu (flourished 1680-1701), Torii Kiyonobu (1710—1730); Tachibana Morikuni (1670-1748); Nishigawa Sukenobu (1678-1750); Katsugawa Shunshō (1770-1790); Utagawa Toyokuni (1772-1828); Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849).
