WOOD CARVING, sculpture in wood.
either in low relief or in the round. On the whole the grain and structure of wood make it more suitable for carving in relief than for large statues; some woods without much dis tinct grain can be carved almost as marble or stone; in other woods the artist must care fully adapt his design to the grain of the wood Wood used for carving must he carefully sea soned and specially prepared; one method of seasoning it is to soak it, when newly cut, in run ning water, thus washing away all the sap, and then to dry out the water; an ancient method was to smoke it with wood smoke; still another method is to dry the wood in hot rooms, after pieces of paper have been glued on the ends to prevent the sap from drying nut at the ends too rnpitll• The woods most commonly used for carving are oak, chestnut, walnut ; cedar in an cient rimes; sandalwood and other perfumed woods in the East; pine, fir and similar sof• woods; the last mentioned being especially fitted for carving on a large scale Wood carving has occupied an important place in the early development of the firP.o.'in in most nations; although it was almost at -n in Bab Ionia, Assyria and Persia, it w anion in t in early times, is India, is a, and in man ; and is now practised In y savage and semi-savage races. Par tis r the Maori and Polynesian races use as dance of wood carving, not only on the w sd beams of their dwellings, but also on th addles, weapons, etc. Their representa tic f beasts and men are usually grotesque, be r also carve metrical fig in arab, etc., and f reedom of rit. The oldest example of wood came os ch is now preserved is Egyptian. a Me tal toe of a man known as the Bk...., dating from 4,000 ac., which gives deace of marked technical skill; several other smaller pieces of Egyptian carving are also preserved No specimens of Greek and Roman wood carving have been preserved, but the classical writers leave no doubt that wood was used in the early days of art in both Greece and Rome and many of the sacred statues were undoubtedly of this material. Wood carving reached its highest development in the Middle Ages. The best early specimens of mediaeval carving are found in the Scandinavian coun tries, on several church doorways, dating from the 9th to the 13th centuries; these are carved on pine and the deu, liostly of in;, • lacing scroll a ork, figures. '1 ht art reached its highest point in France, k;ermany, England and Italy in the 14th and 1 HI ct.; . mnes. The best examples are rounu in rise furnishing of churches, the pulpits, choir stalls, etc. The •••••••• ""f"I non to detail, and artistic cur/shot:own fig ures, leaf and scroll work ith dignity of design, mark the best mei:coeval wood carving. Wood was used for the images of saints and for effigies on tombs; and also for larger pieces of carving, such as roofs of churches and other edifices, often richly deco rated with figures or foliage designs. In the Renaissance period wood carving was lavishly used in church decoration, choir stalls, con fessionals, desks and .pulpits; in Italy ceilings were also elaborately carved; but the designs, though elaborate and skilfully worked ont, vegan to lose the dignity of the medirval carvings, and to indicate a low ebb of taste. In recent times the art of wood carving has lost entirely its former importance. It is best developed among the Swiss peasants, where it is a regularly organized business. and is to some extent preserved among workmen in the provincial towns of France. In Switzerland it
1, used mostly for docks, small articles of fur niture, toilet articles, etc. In England and the United States wood carving has recently been revived to some exteut as a valuable part of an training or of general manual training.
Consult Bond, F., 'Wood-Carving in Eng lish Churches' (2 rills.. Oxford 1910); Has hick, P. N., 'Wood Carving' (Philadelphia 1908); jack, 'Wood Carving, Design and Workmanship' ( 1903 ) ; Mask ell, Alfred, 'Wood Sculpture' (London 1911). the best general wort. on the subject; Lessing, j., Holz sehnitzerlien des 15 and 16 Iahrhundert' (Berlin Ina21; De Looalot, 'Les arts du Ions' (Paris 1893); Ferrari, Ill legno nell' arte italiana' (Milan); Rowe, Eleanor, 'Practical Wood Carving' (London 1907); Williams, 'History of the Art of Sculpture in Wood' (1835) most important, though not the purest, kind of charcoal Wood consists of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, the lam two being in the proportion to form water. When heated in the open air, it burns com pletely away, except a small white ash; but if the supply of air be limited, only the more vola tile matters burn away and most of the carbon remains. This is the principle of the process of charcoal-burning in countries where wood is abundant. A number of billets of wood are tail,- up vertically in two or three rows into a large conical heap, which is covered over with turf or moistened charcoal-ash, holes being lcit at the bottom for the air to enter. A hol low space also is left in the middle of the heap to serve as a flue for the gaseous matters which are evolved. The heap is set on fire by throw ing burning pieces of wood into the central opening near the sop of which • kind of grate made of billets of wood is placed to prevent the burning fuel from falling at once to the bcntom. The combustion then proceeds gradu ally from the top to the bottom, and from the centre to the outside of the heap; and as the central portions burn away, fresh wood is con tinually thrown in at the top, so as to keep the heap quite full. The appearance of the smoke shows how the combustion is proceeding: When it is going on properly, the smoke is thick and white •• if it becomes thin, and ape sally if a blue Name appears, it is a sign that the wood is burning away too fast and the com bustion must then be checked by partially stop ping up the holes at the bottom, or by heaping fresh ashes on the top and sides and pressing them down well, so as to diminish the draught. As soon as the combustion is completed, the heap is entirely covered with turf or ashes and left to cool for two or three days. It is then taken to pieces and the portions still hot are cooled by throwing water or sand on them. One hundred parts of wood yield on the aver age 61 to 65 pans by measure, or 24 parts by weight, of charcoal. (Consult Watts, 'Diction ary of Chemistry.') The charcoal thus pre pared is the best suited for fuel. In England a large quantity of charcoal is obtained in the dry distillation of wood in cast-iron cylinders to the preparation of crude acetic acid; the charcoal thus prepared is preferable for making gunpowder, but inferior for other purposes. A peculiar kind of charcoal of reddish-brown color, hence termed chorboss rows, is prepared in France for manufacture of the gunpowder used in sporting, by subjecting wood in iron cylinders to the action of superheated steam under a pressure of two atmospheres; powder made with this charcoal absorbs moisture more rapidly than ordinary gunpowder.