CARVING, as a branch of sculpture, the art of cutting a hard material by means of a sharp instrument: but there are extended uses of the term, as shown below.
The term is generally employed for work which is strictly decorative as distinguished from grand sculpture; thus the wrought stone leafage, scroll work and even animal forms in a Gothic porch, are carving in common parlance, and so are the human figures of the porch if they are conventional or stiff, as often happens in medieval work. In a Roman temple or a neo-classic edifice the leafage of Corinthian capitals or of any panel or string-course would be called carving, while the statues and even the reliefs of human subjects would be spoken of as sculpture (q.v.). Small pieces, even of human subjects, such as decorative statuettes and groups, are spoken of as carving, and these may be wrought in wood, ivory, bone, marble, and other stones, and even in hard and semi precious stones, such as agate and jade. The carvings of the Chinese and Japanese are espe cially in demand in Western lands, because of their picturesque beauty. When they are of wood they are often painted, gilded or lacquered with a rich polychromatic effect.
Throughout the middle ages of Europe, ivory statuettes, backs of mirrors and purely orna mental objects were treated in the same way, the carving being helped out by color and gold with extraordinary results.
Carving, when done in very hird material, such as rock crystal and jade, requires much use of the drill, in which case the meaning of the term must be extended to include the result produced by a rapidly revolving pin with emery powder or the like. One of the most ingenious and useful purposes to which carving has been converted in more modern times is that of en graving wood-cuts or blocks for printing. (See WOOD-ENGRAVING). Carving has been applied to almost innumerable uses in manufactures as well as in art. Some of these applications have given way to the art of engraving in metal and other processes, but new ones are continually arising. The first carving-machine was in vented about 1800, and many others have since been patented.