CARVING.
Sculpture, gravure,. . Fa. I Scultore, IT.
Schnitzen, Vorschneiden, Escultura, . .
GEE.
Carving in wood, horn, and ivory must have been practised in India from very early times, for the idols which the people worship, and for calico printing, for which they have long used wood blocks. They are fond of carving on many of their ordinary utensils, as spinning-wheels, etc. Their skill is shown in carving the blackwood and ebony furnitures of Bombay and Madras, especially in the elegance of the patterns of the backs of the chairs and sofas, in the sideboards and book cases. Carvings in ivory of different parts of India are much to be admired, whether for the size or the minuteness, for the elaborateness of detail, or for the truth of representation. Among these the ivory carvings of Berhampore are con spicuous. A set of chessmen from India, at the Exhibition of 1851, carved from the drawings in Layard's ' Nineveh,' were excellent representations of what could only have been seen in the above work, and showed that they are capable of doing new things when required ; their representations of an elephant and other animals were true to nature. The carvings in, the same material in a state chair sent from Travancore were greatly admired ; and for the truth of representation on a minute scale, where an elephant was enclosed in the shell of a pea, chouries or fly-flappers from Calicut, where the ivory or sandal-wood was cut into long hair-like threads, were also specimens of their mechanical skill. Their skill in wood-carving is conspicuously displayed in the elaborate details of the sandal-wood boxes from the Malabar coast, and is also shown in the beauty of the figures and buildings in the pith-like stems of the marsh plant called shola, the Eschynomene aspera. In the latter, all the elaborate detail of the richly orna mented Hindu architecture of the south of India is carefully brought out. For this work only two tools seem to be employed,---one a large and heavy knife, and one with a fine sharp cutting edge. Besides these, cocoanut shells and gourds are carved and made into cups, vases, and snuff-boxes ; also the kernel of the cocoanut is variously cut, for making garlands for state occasions. The natives of India also display skill and neatness, as well as habitual taste, in their work-boxes, etc., of ivory, horn, or porcupine-quill, ebony, and sandal-wood, their fans and umbrellas, chouries, and khus-khus or other baskets, hookah-snakes, imitation fruits and flowers, toys and puzzles. The skill is remarkable with which the unyielding substance of the hard, thick thank shell is con verted into necklaces for men and into biacelets for women. The manufacture of shell bracelets is one of the indigenous arts of Bengal, in which the Sankari caste at Dacca excel. The thanks of which they are made are the large species of Turbinella, from six to seven inches long, and of a pure white colour. They are imported into Calcutta from Ramnad and South India, opposite to Ceylon, and from the Maldive Islands. The ivory for the Chinese carvers reaches China principally from Cochin-China and Africa, via Bombay, and always finds a ready sale at Canton ; the largest and best tusks weigh from 16 to 25 pounds each, decreasing to five or six pounds. The cuttings and fragments also form an article of trade, as the workmen can employ the smallest pieces. Bones and horns, especially the long horns of buffaloes, are in China worked into handles, buttons, etc. Rhinoceros' horns are brought from Burma, from Sumatra, and from Africa through Bombay ; they are highly valued by the Chinese, from a notion that cups made from them sweat whenever a poisonous mixture is poured into them. A perfect horn sometimes sells as high as 300 dollars ; but those that come from Africa do not usually rate above 30 or 40 dollars each. The principal use of these horns is
in medicine and for amulets, for only one good cup can be carved from the end of each horn ; and consequently the parings and fragments are all preserved. The hard teeth of the walrus, lamantin, and other cetaceous animals, also form articles of import into China from the Pacific, under the of sea-horse teeth ; they weigh one or two pounds a piece, and the ivory is nearly as compact, though not so white, as that of the elephant. The delicate carving of Chinese workmen is well known, and has often been described ; many specimens of, it are annually sent abroad. Few products of their skill are more remarkable than the balls, containing ten or twelve 'spheres cut out one within another ; but the Manner of cutting them is simple. A piece of ivory or wood is first made perfectly globular, and then several conical holes are bored into it in such a manner that their apices all meet at the centre, which is usually hollowed out an inch or less after the holes are bored. A long crooked tool is then inserted in one of the conical holes, so bent at the end and stoppered on the shaft that it cuts the ivory at the same distance from the surface when its edgo is applied to the insides of the cone. By successively cutting a little on the insides of each conical hole, their incisures meet, and a spliericle is at last detached, which is now turned over and its faces one after another brought opposite the largest hole and firmly secured by wedges in the other holes, while its surfaces aro smoothed and carved. When the central sphere is done, a similar knife, somewhat larger, is again introduced into the holes, and another sphere detached and smoothed in the same way, and then another, until the whole are completed, each being polished and carved before the next outer one is commenced. It has been supposed by some that these curious toys were made of hemispheres nicely luted together, and they have been boiled in oil for hours in order to separate them and solve the mystery of their con struction. Fans and card-cases arc carved of wood, ivory, and mother-of-pearl in alto-relievo, with an elaborateness which shows the great skill and patience of the workman, and at the same time his bad taste in drawing, the figures, houses, trees, and other objects being grouped in violation of all propriety and perspective. Beautiful orna ments are made by carving roots of plants, branches, gnarled knots, etc., into fantastic groups of birds or animals, the artist taking advantage of the natural form of his materials. Models of pagodas, boats, and houses are also entirely constructed of ivory, even to representing the ornamental roofs, the men working at the oar, and women looking from the balconies. Baskets of elegant shape are woven from ivory splinths ; and the shopmen at Canton exhibit a variety of seals, paper - knives, chessmen, counters, combs, etc., exceeding in finish and delicacy the same kind of work found anywhere else in the world. The most elaborate coat of arms, or complicated cypher, will also be imitated by these skilful carvers. The national taste prefers this style of carving on plane surfaces ; it is seen on the walls of houses and granite slabs of fences, the wood work of boats and shops, and on articles of furniture. Some of it is pretty; but the dispro portion and cramped position of the figures detract from its beauty. Their porcelain is good. The ivory carvings, ebony and other hard wood ornaments, and the bronzes, are all ex worked ; the value attached to them in England varying from £4 to £5. Burmese carpenters carve in a rough but bold style, and find employment principally in carving for the exteriors of monasteries.— Williams' Middle King dom, ii. pp. 141, 408 ; Yule's Embassy, p. 59 ; Hodgson's Nagasaki.