I came across this gorgeous exhibition at Japan House quite by chance as was attending an event there. Carpentry is not normally something I would get hugely enthusiastic about but this is different.
Everything is beautifully presented as you would expect with different and ingenious ways of joining wood on display. You can get hands-on with small versions to see how they fit together with large scale examples suspended above.
Some were straightforward, others required twisting as well as pulling, like a puzzle.
I didn’t have enough hands to photograph them – this is a standard dovetail joint.
These ones are life-sized, showing their progression from hand-made to high-precision machine-tooled joints.
It’s not just about connecting pieces of wood without the use of metal screws. The exhibition title The Craft of Carpentry: Drawing Life from Japan’s Forests encompasses the history and tradition of carpentry including costume and even the scent of different woods.
Tools and templates are also things of beauty as you would expect from a culture with such a strong craft tradition. I have never seen saws like this before.
You could be in a fashion pattern-cutting room.
The show is on till 6th July and free to visit.