Carver

“ An moreover (which was a greater marvel to behold) the excellent carver and deviser of this worke had fashioned the dogs to stand up fiercely with their former feet, and their hinder feet on the ground ready to fight. Behinde the back of the goddesse was carved a stone in manner of a Caverne, environed with mosse, herbes, leaves, sprigs, green branches and bowes, growing in and about the same, insomuch that within the stone it glistered and shone marvellously, under the brim of the stone hanged apples and grapes carved finely, wherein Art envying Nature, shewed her great cunning. ”

“ The panels are grouped together under canopy work forming one harmonious whole. The genius of this great carver shows itself in the large variety of the facial expression of those wonderful figures all instinct with life and movement. In France few retables exist outside the museums. ”

“ Work done in this manner, provided the carver has skill and taste, is sure to show character and life, and to differ entirely from the mechanical conventionalisms we generally see in modern stone-carving. ”

“ Method.—The process for relief carving is usually as follows. The carver first fixes the wood to his bench by means of the screw already referred to. He then (a) sketches on the main lines of his idea, indicating the flowers, foliage, &c.; or (b) should the design be very intricate or of a geometrical character, he traces the whole design from a pattern first prepared on paper ”

“ Who that has felt the embarrassing doubts and contradictory impulses, peculiar to modern study, can have failed to look disconsolately away from his own surroundings to those far-off times when craft knowledge was acquired under circumstances [244] calculated to awaken the brightest instincts of the artist? The imaginary picture calls up the ancient carver at his bench, cheerfully blocking out images of leaves and animals in his busy workshop, surrounded with the sights and sounds of country life. ”

“ The first sight of such things in the places and among the surroundings for which they were designed, is always an eventful moment in the training of a carver, because the element of surprise acts like a tonic to the mind by arousing its emulative instincts. It is by seeing such things in their proper home and associations that the best lessons are learned. ”

“ To carry the imitative idea farther and to suggest, as has been done by writers, that the carver of the Mound-Building epoch sat down to his work with the animal or a model of it before him, as does the accurate zoological artist of our own day, is wholly insupported by evidence derivable from the carvings themselves, and is of too imaginative a character to be entertained. ”

“ Some are well known and recommended; others, as traveling artists, are seeking change of experience and daily bread. Foreigners are here, from France, Italy, and the East. All have been placed under the direction of competent masters of their craft; men who have long since served their apprenticeship to its mysteries, and earned an honorable position in its gilds.
Here the carver works in an atmosphere of exhilarating emulation. Stone-carver and wood-carver vie with each other in producing work that will do credit to their respective brotherhoods. ”

“ Fig. 63 is an example to [186] this effect. The little jester just emerging from a flower, one of the side-pieces to a Miserere seat carving, is undoubtedly a true portrait, carved without the slightest attempt at exaggeration. The quiet humor which it evinces required only sympathy to perceive and skill to portray on the part of its carver. He had nothing to invent in the common acceptation of the word. The carving of the mendicant, which comes on the other side, is equally vivid in its truth to nature. ”

“ A carver takes a block of wood and sets out to make a vase. First he cuts away all the useless parts: The writer should reject all the useless facts connected with his story and reserve only what illustrates his idea. Often, however, the carver finds his block of wood too small, or imperfect. Perfect blocks of wood are rare, and so are perfect stories in real life. The carver cuts out the imperfect part and fits in a new piece of wood. ”

“ The carver, who is in a squatting position with his feet close to the body, holds the bolo with the handle between the big first toe in a vertical position, the back of it being toward him. He draws the meat over the edge, thereby doing the carving in a quicker, more convenient, and more effective manner than do a great many more civilized men. ”

“ At his feet reposes his dog.
CARVER’S INITIALS, ST. NICHOLAS’S, LYNN.
There is an interesting peculiarity about these Lynn carvings; the sides of the misericordes are designs in the fashion of monograms, or rebuses. The sides supporting the carver are his initials, pierced with his carving tools, a saw and a chisel. The difficulty is the same in all of the set; the meaning of the monograms is not to be lightly determined. In this case it may be U.V., or perhaps U is twice repeated.
COMMUNICATING A STRIKING IDEA, BEVERLEY MINSTER.
The next carvers belong to the following century. ”

“ All the power and vigour which he is capable of putting into anything, the clever carver can put into a piece of ornament which shall not project more than a quarter of an inch from the ground in any part. ”

“ The platter should be placed near the carver, that he may easily reach any part of the joint.
The cook should see that all skewers, strings, etc., be removed before sending the meat or fish to the table. It is extremely awkward to find one’s knife impeded by a bit of twine.
The carver may stand or sit, as suits his convenience. Anything that is done easily is generally done gracefully, but when one works at a disadvantage awkwardness is always the result. ”

“ WOOD-CARVING, the process whereby wood is ornamented with design by means of sharp cutting tools held in the hand. The term includes anything within the limit of sculpture in the round up to hand-worked mouldings such as help to compose the tracery of screens, &c.
Material.—The texture of wood limits the scope of the carver in that the substance consists of bundles of fibres (called grain) growing in a vertical direction without much lateral cohesive strength. ”

“ Here, then, are a number of conditions, which, instead of being a hindrance, are really useful incentives to fresh invention. Just as the construction of joiner's work entails concessions on the part of the carver, so the carver may ask the joiner to go a little out of his way in order to give opportunities for his carving. ”

“ The background of a piece of carving is so obviously solid and impenetrable that any attempt to imitate an appearance of distance is sure to defeat its own ends, the [220] loss being greater than the gain. If there are limits to be observed in the foreshortening of a single leaf, how much more must they apply to the representation of whole landscapes? Properly speaking, there is no distance available in the carver's art; its whole interest lies near the surface, and in the direct rays of the light which illuminates it. ”

“ They should be laid always by themselves. On no account should the edge of one carver touch that of another carver, nor should it touch any other hard substance.
A carver must always be sharpened on its steel before it is offered for use, unless a contrary direction is given, and when necessary should be taken without delay to the shop of a careful workman to have the edge renewed.
It is safest to replace carvers in their own cases. When they are laid in a drawer, it is well to keep each one in its own simple case of heavy gray flannel. ”

“ The dullness which comes of "all work and no play" may be said to affect the carver at times. He tires of carving leaves and ornaments: what more natural than to seek change and amusement in the invention of droll figures of men or animals? The enjoyment which we all feel in contemplating the outcome of this spirit in ancient work, leads us to the imitation of both subject and manner, hoping thereby that the same results may be obtained ”

“ In the illustration, Fig 3, a shows the best form of grounding tool; b is little [39] or no use for this purpose, as it curves up too suddenly for work on a flat ground. It is a good thing to have the handles of tools made of different colored woods, as it assists the carver in picking them out quickly from those lying ready for use. ”

“ The savage carver shows the same tendency to over-exalt his art by crowding on too much design as the more civilized craftsman of other lands, while he also on occasion exercises a good deal of restraint by a harmonious balance of decoration and plain space. So far as his chip designs and those patterns more or less depending on the line are concerned, his work as a rule is good and suitable, but when he takes to figure work his attempts do not usually meet with success. ”

“ Medieval carvings have generally a story to tell, though being without words some people are forgetful of the fact, deeming them merely ornamental features, and so miss the carver’s chief aim because they do not look for it ”

“ A special screw for fixing work to the bench, and a mallet, complete the carver's kit, though other tools, more or less legitimate, are often used, such as a router for bringing grounds to a uniform level, bent gouges and bent chisels for cutting hollows too deep for the ordinary tool. ”

“ In order that we might be safe from the wolves we made a fire and agreed to watch in turn. First the carver watched, and to shorten the time he took a block of wood and carved out of it a fine maiden. ”

“ It is quite unnecessary to pursue the subject of woods beyond the few kinds mentioned. Woods such as ebony, sandalwood, cherry, brier, box, pear-tree, lancewood, and many others, are all good for the carver, but are better fitted for special purposes and small work. As this book is concerned more with the art of carving than its application, it will save confusion if we accept yellow pine as our typical soft wood, and good close-grained oak as representing hard wood. ”

“ A country carpenter deals in every sort of work that is made of wood; a country smith in every sort of work that is made of iron. The former is not only a carpenter, but a joiner, a cabinet-maker, and even a carver in wood, as well as a wheel-wright, a plough-wright, a cart and waggon-maker. ”

“ In an Inscription which is much above the eye level, the letters may be narrower in proportion to their height, and the horizontal strokes extra thick to allow for foreshortening. (See also pp. 351, 270.)
The advantages of working in situ are great, for by so doing the carver sees his job as he works under the same conditions of light and environment that it will finally be seen under, and the work is more likely to become a part of the place because it has grown there. ”

“ Carvers have sometimes allowed themselves to run wild in their imaginations as they have cut and shaped a block of wood, giving it the most fantastic form, picturing myths and fables in a wonderfully realistic way. ”

“ The joint in the leg is not quite in the middle of the bend, but a trifle nearer the thigh. It requires some practice to strike these joints in the right spot. Cut off the meat from each side of the bone in the second joint and leg, as these when large are more than one person requires, and it is inconvenient to have so large bones on one’s plate.
It is easier to finish the carving before beginning to serve. An expert carver will have the whole bird disjointed and literally in pieces with a very few strokes of the knife. ”

“ Simple Jacobean Wood Carving. Direct gouge work.
In the design—which may occupy or fill the shape and can be symmetrically arranged on a central axis, or balanced—the effect is due mainly to Light and Shade. Further interest may be imparted by the sectional form or modelling of the details, groovings, striations or other textural suggestions.{303}
Backgrounds
The employment of punched grounds in carved work is to be deprecated as mechanical in effect. Sufficient interest is obtainable by the process of cutting back, in the perfect levelling of which the carver need not be too concerned. ”

“ It must be admitted that they are extraordinarily clever carvers; and they have a rather primitive method of painting their wares which is very decorative and, when it is not too well done, quite attractive. ”

“ I believe the right question to ask, respecting all ornament, is simply this: Was it done with enjoyment—was the carver happy while he was about it? ”

“ At great feasts, no man cut for himself, but several Carvers cut up all the meat at a side table, and give to the waiters, to be carryed to the Guests; and every one hath the very same part of meat carried unto him, to wit, a wing and a legg of wild fowl, &c, least any one take exceptions that others were better used then he. The Carvers never touch the meat with their hands, but only with their knife and fork, and great silver spoon for the sauce. ”

“ To Jonathan Carver, a chief under the most mighty and potent George the Third, King of the English and other nations, the fame of whose courageous warriors have reached our ears, and has been more fully told us by our good brother Jonathan aforesaid, whom we rejoice to see come among us, and bring us good news from his country. ”

“ Of course, if carvers were scarce they would all be busy on the architecture, as you call it, and then these 'toys' (a good word) would not be made; but since there are plenty of people who can carve—in fact, almost everybody, and as work is somewhat scarce, or we are afraid it may be, folk do not discourage this kind of petty work. ”

“ Carvers' tools, unlike joiners', are rubbed on both sides, in the proportion of about two-thirds outside to one-third inside. When a keen edge has been formed, which can easily be tested by gently applying the finger, it should be stropped on a piece of stout leather. ”