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Japanese Garden Lanterns |
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Jump to lantern tutorial links Since their adoption from the grounds of temples and shrines for use in the tea garden by the early tea masters, the stone lantern has come to be widely used in a variety of contexts in the Japanese garden. Although there are many gardens which do not utilize stone lanterns, there are at least as many which do. The stone lantern can serve as a focal point, be placed with a mind to utility, or simply recede into the distance as an expression of man's presence reaching out into the natural world. However they may be used, Japanese stone lanterns are an art form unto themselves. There is a broad range of designs and styles, with very little in common among them. The only truly universal element in a stone lantern design is the hibukuro or firebox. The simplest lanterns consist of the firebox and roof only, while the more complex may have 6 or more elements stacked one atop the other including the base, the pedestal, the platform for the firebox, the firebox itself, the roof and the finial. |
(from Kimachi Ishi no Saiseki to Kakou published by the Shinjicho Education Committee, 1990) |
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You may have a place in your
garden that is just perfect for a stone lantern, but if you're
like me, the price tag for a granite lantern may be just bit (or
maybe even more than just a bit) high. You may have considered
one of the concrete lanterns from the local garden center, but
often these are not crafted with any care and tend to have
visible mold lines all over the place, not to mention that the
surface finish is far from the desired look of natural stone. The
lanterns also tend to be molded in fewer pieces than a real stone
lantern. For example, I have seen a yukimi-gata lantern
which combined the platform for the firebox and the firebox into
one casting and the roof and finial into another. Another problem
is that these lanterns tend to come in only one or two styles
which may not be suited to your tastes or to your garden design.
You want a lantern, but you want it to look as natural as
possible without breaking the bank. So, what to do? You can make your own. There are at least three ways to approach this project. The first is to use a more easily worked material such as wood. There are several styles of wooden lanterns that could be used as substitutes for the stone lantern. These can be mounted on a pole or hung from the eaves of your house or other garden structure. A second method involves using natural stones for parts of the lantern in combination with a wooden firebox perhaps glazed with rice paper or a translucent fiberglass-type material. The final method is to cast your own Japanese lantern from concrete or hypertufa (basically a mixture of portland cement, sand and peat moss though the ingredients and proportions thereof may vary). There have been several postings on the GardenWeb Japanese Garden forum in the past on this subject including links to a couple of hypertufa lanterns made by forum participants. Here's one which includes instructions by Bryan Gifford and another by Hugues Laliberte. Both Bryan and Hugues were able to obtain wonderful results though their "recipes" and designs varied somewhat. The peat moss in the hypertufa mixture is said to give the final product a more stone-like texture (I haven't seen one up close, so I can't speak from experience on this point). It is also possible to get very good results with a straight concrete mix as well (as the photos at the top of this page prove!). I am happy to announce the addition to this site of the first "How-To" by a site visitor, Herbert Thornton. Many thanks to Herb who took the time to record his experiences in casting his own Japanese lanterns in the two part tutorial which follows. Herb has worked out a number of methods that I would never have thought of and I certainly plan to implement them in my attempts. Making Japanese Garden Lanterns from Concrete - Part II Making Japanese Garden Lanterns from Concrete - Part III Molds for concrete/hypertufa Japanese lanterns - Chris H. "Shoji" windows for Japanese lanterns - Chris H. |