Imagine a lifelike wooden statue not shaped by nature, but by the hands of a man confronting his own mortality.
In 1885, Japanese sculptor Hananuma Masakichi, believing he was dying of tuberculosis, set out to leave behind something deeply personal: a full-sized wooden likeness of himself, created as a final gift to the woman he loved.
Crafted from up to 5,000 interlocking wooden pieces, the statue contains no visible joints. Instead, Masakichi used a masterful blend of glue, pegs, and dovetail joinery, seamlessly holding the form together. He lacquered the surface to mimic the look and texture of human skin, added individually inset glass eyes, and even used his own hair painstakingly applied to the head, eyebrows, and body.
The result is more than a sculpture. It’s a hauntingly intimate self-portrait a testament to love, skill, and the fragile beauty of life, preserved in silent wood. Masakichi would go on to survive his illness, but the statue remains, an extraordinary echo of one man’s confrontation with death and devotion.
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