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Mokuhankan Collection Update!
🕑 Added 2020-11-25 02:31:14 +0000 UTCCollection update! Or I should say … updates!
Over the past few weeks, we have made hundreds of uploads to the Mokuhankan Collection website. Three of our staff members are digging through the shelves and drawers of the Collection, selecting items for photography and preparation.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, our own Collection is quite different from the sort of woodblock prints held in major museums. In that world, they prioritize the famous old originals. Nothing wrong with that - such items should indeed be preserved in museums - but the downside is that most such objects are old, tattered, and don’t in any way show the inherent beauty of a traditional Japanese print.
Our mission is different. We are not concerned with the fame of the designer, or with the age or rarity of the print. We simply want to show how beautiful such things can be. To ensure this, we are not scanning, but photographing (RAW) under special lighting, and then editing and uploading at very high resolutions.
But enough words … just go and look! (Use a desktop browser with a large monitor; draw it wide, turn out your room lights ... and enjoy!)
https://mokuhankan.com/collection
If you have never been to the Collection before, look for the 'Quick Browse' mode in the Search tab for an easy overview of what is in there ...
Also, it is very important for me to mention that because our Asakusa shop is still closed - and probably will be for quite some time - the three staff members doing this work are being completely supported by the Patreon funds. In 2019, the Asakusa shop represented 43% of our annual revenue. That of course has been completely wiped out this year. The ’silver lining' is that we now have time for this project … but it could only happen with your support. Yamada-san, Watanabe-san, and Rose-san join me in saying again, ‘Thank you very much!’
Dave
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And also from Yamada-san: “Thank you ever so much everybody!! With your great support, we can carry on working on this exciting project. It really means a lot to us. We hope all of you enjoy browsing this Mokuhankan Collection :) I wish you’ll be able to discover something new about the beauty of traditional Japanese woodblock prints every time when you visit our website.”
And this from Rose-san, who is doing research for the print descriptions: "Thank you for your support! There's so much to see in the Collection, but please take your time in browsing this treasure trove of prints hand-picked by David and beautifully photographed by the Mokuhankan staff!"
