Keywords
Art History
Sculpture
Lit. neck tenon. A tenon *hozo ほぞ or projection made at the bottom of the head of a wooden sculpture in order to join the head and body together at the neck. Used when a sculpture is made by the *yoseki-zukuri 寄木造 technique whereby several pieces of wood carved separately and then joined together. Also, when a sculpture is made from a single block of wood *ichiboku-zukuri 一木造, it may be cut at the base of the neck to hollow it out in order to make it lighter and prevent cracking. The pieces are then rejoined using the kubihozo.