Wooden Rabbit Yokoyama Hakutei Japan

Wooden Rabbit.
This work is a sculpture carved from a single piece of camphor wood without any joinery. It depicts a rabbit with rounded features, entitled "tama usagui," The Ball-Shaped Rabbit.

Yokoyama Hakutei (横山白汀) was a wood sculptor born in 1901 (Meiji 34) in the city of Inami, a locality in Toyama Prefecture renowned for its woodcarving tradition. This region is historically linked to Zuisen-ji Temple, whose reconstruction fostered the development of exceptional craftsmanship, particularly in wood carving. Hakutei is part of this tradition, but his work transcends mere craftsmanship: it fully belongs to the realm of artistic sculpture. He distinguished himself through his technical mastery, particularly in the creation of single-piece wood sculptures (monoxylous, ippombori), a demanding method that involves carving an entire work without any assembly. This approach requires great anticipation and a perfect understanding of the material. With the original signed box.