INDEPENDENT MATERIAL & OBJECT STUDIO ✦ SWITZERLAND

Wood, studied
closely.

Japanese-inspired knife forms. Exceptional timbers. An exacting attention to the singular character of each piece.

EXPLORE THE COLLECTION↗

01 / A STUDY IN MATERIALSCROLL TO DISCOVER

ARCHIVE / M–001

I. THE OBJECT

SELECTED WORKS

Nothing
is incidental.

Material is not merely a finish. Its density, figure, history and natural irregularity determine the identity of an object.

Each Mokurei study begins with the wood itself — and ends when proportion, grain and form reach a quiet balance.

MOKUREI — STUDIO NOTES, VOL. 01

Finished knife — golden figured wood handle with flowing grain

FINISHED WORKS 01 / 06

01 / KNIFE STUDYOBJECT SERIES

A study in
line & balance.

The essential form of a Japanese-profile kitchen knife, with all attention directed to the meeting of steel and timber.

DISCUSS AVAILABILITY↗

MOKUREI / SELECTED OBJECTS

Three experimental wooden inlay compositions and small precision cut pieces — 02 — INLAY STUDIESGEOMETRY / CONTRAST

Collection of dark wooden knife handles with contrasting ferrules and intricate inlay — 03 — HANDLE ARCHIVEFORM / MATERIAL

Close-up arrangement of dark ebony-like timber blanks, with rich contrasting brown figure

OBSERVATION NO. 004

“A line in the grain is sometimes enough to determine the entire composition.”

MOKUREI — NOTES ON MATERIAL

II. THE MATERIAL ARCHIVE

SPECIMEN INDEX / BOTANICAL COLLECTION

An atlas
of timber.

A growing reference collection of woods selected for visual character, tactile quality and technical distinction.

Open a specimen card for its botanical identity, average density, Janka hardness, working properties and less familiar uses.

12 SPECIMENS DOCUMENTED

Curated selection of raw timbers including contrasting light, dark, red and figured wood blanks — THE MATERIAL TABLE / VOL. 01

Organic figured burl slices and naturally contoured root wood on dark charcoal surface — ROOT & BURL / STUDY 02

SUPPLEMENT / MATERIAL OBSERVATIONS

The photographic cabinet.

Six photographic plates from the Mokurei studio. Studies in figure, contrast and construction — not species identification photographs.

Mixed group of strongly figured dark and amber hardwood boards with irregular natural markings; no individual botanical identification asserted. — FIGURE STUDY / NO. 01The figure in the wood

Macro view of an amber figured wood inlay enclosed by fine brass lines within a dark wood handle. — CONTRAST STUDY / NO. 02Between light and dark

Handmade geometric wooden inlay studies displayed on contrasting timber blanks. — COMPOSITION / NO. 03Small-scale compositions

Japanese-style kitchen knife with a dark figured wooden handle and a dramatic sapwood streak, photographed diagonally against charcoal stone. — JOINERY STUDY / NO. 04Inlay, brass and wood

Detail of a figured reddish-gold wooden ferrule, brass spacer and dark knife handle. — SURFACE STUDY / NO. 05The meeting of surfaces

OBJECT STUDY / NO. 06A warmer register

Photography records objects and mixed timber studies in the Mokurei collection. A photographed blank is not presented as a scientifically authenticated specimen of any particular species.

* Density = typical air-dried mass at approximately 12% moisture content. Janka hardness = indentation resistance in pound-force (lbf); figures describe species averages, not a test of an individual Mokurei blank. A dagger (†) denotes a reference estimate. Where a different moisture basis applies, it is stated within the individual specimen record. Technical source: The Wood Database ↗