Battle Scene 1669 - 1754

Hanekawa Chinchō created this woodblock print of a battle scene sometime before his death in 1754. The image is made by carving a design into a block of wood, applying ink to the raised surface, and then pressing paper against it. The linear quality of the print emphasizes the wood's grain, even suggesting the texture of a battlefield. Look closely, and you can see how the artist used bold lines to depict the warriors and horses, while finer lines create details in their armor, the landscape, and the natural world. Woodblock printing in Japan was often a collaborative process, with specialized artisans responsible for carving the block, applying the ink, and pressing the print. This division of labor allowed for the efficient production of prints, making art accessible to a wide audience, and influencing the aesthetic landscape of the time. Considering the labor and skill involved in its creation, this print underscores how techniques associated with craft can produce works of great artistic merit.