Wood-Carving

Methods.

Having drawn the outline of the work in hand upon the wood the carver proceeds to make a groove all round this out line with a gouge of small size called a "fluter." Then he takes up a fairly large gouge of quickish curve and with it digs out all the wood between the standing parts until he approaches the depth he requires. Then with a gouge of flatter curve he cuts down the sides of the projecting parts until they are nearly upright. His next movement is towards a more complete realization of his de sign. He begins to indicate the positions of veins, lower parts to their respective planes, and in general tries to put in the first stage of any detail such as the articulation of a leaf, berries, tendrils, etc., but all in a tentative way, leaving sufficient wood around every part to allow of little amendments as the work develops. This process, up to the point he has reached, is called "bosting in," that is, getting his work into a rough state of readiness for the "finishing." This is considered the most important part of the work of a carver. The work, when it has been through this process of "bosting in," should be so suggestive of the final stage that it is not difficult for a skilful carver to realize completely all that is meant by the more or less rough details in it. The "finishing" is the clearing up of details by completing the con tours, levelling the ground, making mitred corners, and should, if properly done, include securing a pleasant texture which may display the quality of the wood.

The foregoing applies to work in moderate relief. Low relief carving or very high relief re quires a somewhat different treat ment. Low relief requires in the carver a very high level of knowledge in the matter of draw ing, because it depends so much upon the way in which its leading lines are disposed. Not less important is the management of the surface contours, and as in low relief not one of them can be even approximately true to the real form of the object repre sented, it follows that the con tours must be delicately graduated so as to suggest roundness where it does not exist (at least to the same extent). All this means in the carver good draughtsmanship, and a very keen sense of form. In low relief, therefore, there is very little to do in the way of "bosting in." It is mostly sharp cutting and drawing with the tools.

High relief carving, or carving in the round, demands much knowledge of form on the carver's part. Let us suppose that he is carving a head; he must know to a nicety and by heart the exact proportions, the position of each feature and he must find these details by a process of clearance which is very conf us ing. Figure carving in a modern shop is often done as a divided labour: that is to say, one man makes a model and another man carves it. This is done by means of an instrument called a "pointer" which is so made that a measurement can be taken on any part of a modelled surface and transferred to the wood in exactly the same relation to a registered mark on each. By this

means little points are made all over the surfaces which have previously been "blocked out," that is, carved down to within a quarter of an inch of the true surface. When some hundreds of these points have been made the whole surface is carved true be tween them. Such mechanical workmanship cannot have the most interesting results, but it saves time and eliminates the chances of failure and so is much in favour.

A word or two may be said here as to figure-carving in general. There can be little doubt that when figures were being carved for the decoration of churches in ancient days they were carved with the full intention of completing them by covering them with paint and gold. That this was so, many examples testify and often where the painting has disappeared traces of such still remain. So many met with this misfortune that it gradually became the custom for carvers to copy them as they saw them, that is, with out decoration, so that in modern times figures have seldom been decorated in the old way. The result is that they are not often seen in such a good light that their lines or features can be prop erly distinguished. Wood always has a way of hiding itself if the lighting is not very strong, but the moment it is covered with gold and paint it reappears in all its details even in a dark recess. Nearly all the carved woodwork of ancient times was decorated with paint and gold, that is, of course, in all cases where it was safe from rubbing. Stalls or other church fittings which were liable to rubbing were never painted.

Modern Decline.

The outlook, from a wood-carver's point of view, cannot be said to be very encouraging at the present time. Ever since the beginning of the i9th century, the output from the carver's shop has steadily declined. It has ceased to be used on household furniture, and for domestic architecture such decoration is no longer required. Shops, railway stations, restau rants and some public buildings still make use of wood-carving, but of no artistic merit. The church seems to be the only sanc tuary of the art, and there a better kind of carving may be seen, though never on the scale of importance which it once had. No doubt the cause of the decline is to be found in the increasing use of machinery and the enormous advance in the cost of labour. It is difficult to see in the face of these formidable facts what can be done to preserve the craft. It is not an art that can stand by it self ; detached pieces of wood-carving, however good, are no more than toys. The danger in making such a use of wood-carving lies in the fact that it is under no restraint ; there is no necessity for discipline, and such unlimited freedom leads mostly to a mere seeking after novelty, both as to motive and execution.

(G. JA.)