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THE ARTISTIC CRAFTS SERIES OF TECHNICAL HANDBOOKS EDITED BY W. R.
LETHABY
WOOD-CARVING: DESIGN AND WORKMANSHIP ARTISTIC CRAFTS SERIES OF
TECHNICAL HANDBOOKS.
Edited by W. R. LETHABY.
The series will appeal to handicraftsmen in the industrial and mechanic
arts. It will consist of authoritative statements by experts in every
field for the exercise of ingenuity, taste, imagination--the whole
sphere of the so-called "dependent arts."
BOOKBINDING AND THE CARE OF BOOKS. A Handbook for Amateurs,
Bookbinders, and Librarians. By DOUGLAS COCKERELL. With 120
Illustrations and Diagrams by Noel Rooke, and 8 collotype
reproductions of binding. 12mo. $1.25 net; postage, 12 cents
additional.
SILVERWORK AND JEWELRY. A Text-Book for Students and Workers in
Metal. By H. WILSON. With 160 Diagrams and 16 full-page
Illustrations. 12mo. $1.40 net; postage, 12 cents additional.
WOOD CARVING: DESIGN AND WORKMANSHIP. By GEORGE JACK. With Drawings
by the Author and other Illustrations.
_In Preparation_:
CABINET-MAKING AND DESIGNING. By C. SPOONER.
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.
[Illustration: A SUGGESTION FROM NATURE AND PHOTOGRAPHY.
See page 197.]
WOOD-CARVING
DESIGN AND
WORKMANSHIP
BY GEORGE JACK
WITH
DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR
AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS
NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1903
COPYRIGHT, 1903,
BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
_All rights reserved_
_Published October, 1903_
EDITOR'S PREFACE
In issuing these volumes of a series of Handbooks on the Artistic
Crafts, it will be well to state what are our general aims.
In the first place, we wish to provide trustworthy text-books of
workshop practise, from the points of view of experts who have
critically examined the methods current in the shops, and putting aside
vain survivals, are prepared to say what is good workmanship, and to set
up a standard of quality in the crafts which are more especially
associated with design. Secondly, in doing this, we hope to treat design
itself as an essential part of good workmanship. During the last century
most of the arts, save painting and sculpture of an academic kind, were
little considered, and there was a tendency to look on "design" as a
mere matter of _appearance_. Such "ornamentation" as there was was
usually obtained by following in a mechanical way a drawing provided by
an artist who often knew little of the technical processes involved in
production. With the critical attention given to the crafts by Ruskin
and Morris, it came to be seen that it was impossible to detach design
from craft in this way, and that, in the widest sense, true design is an
inseparable element of good quality, involving as it does the selection
of good and suitable material, contrivance for special purpose, expert
workmanship, proper finish, and so on, far more than mere ornament, and
indeed, that ornamentation itself was rather an exuberance of fine
workmanship than a matter of merely abstract lines. Workmanship when
separated by too wide a gulf from fresh thought--that is, from
design--inevitably decays, and, on the other hand, ornamentation,
divorced from workmanship, is necessarily unreal, and quickly falls into
affectation. Proper ornamentation may be defined as a language
addressed to the eye; it is pleasant thought expressed in the speech of
the tool.
In the third place, we would have this series put artistic craftsmanship
before people as furnishing reasonable occupations for those who would
gain a livelihood. Although within the bounds of academic art, the
competition, of its kind, is so acute that only a very few per cent can
fairly hope to succeed as painters and sculptors; yet, as artistic
craftsmen, there is every probability that nearly every one who would
pass through a sufficient period of apprenticeship to workmanship and
design would reach a measure of success.
In the blending of handwork and thought in such arts as we propose to
deal with, happy careers may be found as far removed from the dreary
routine of hack labor as from the terrible uncertainty of academic art.
It is desirable in every way that men of good education should be
brought back into the productive crafts: there are more than enough of
us "in the city," and it is probable that more consideration will be
given in this century than in the last to Design and Workmanship.
* * * * *
This third volume of our series treats of one branch of the great art of
sculpture, one which in the past has been in close association with
architecture. It is, well, therefore, that besides dealing thoroughly,
as it does, with the craftsmanship of wood-carving, it should also be
concerned with the theory of design, and with the subject-matter which
the artist should select to carve.
Such considerations should be helpful to all who are interested in the
ornamental arts. Indeed, the present book contains some of the best
suggestions as to architectural ornamentation under modern circumstances
known to me. Architects can not forever go on plastering buildings over
with trade copies of ancient artistic thinking, and they and the public
must some day realize that it is not mere shapes, but only _thoughts_,
which will make reasonable the enormous labor spent on the decoration of
buildings. Mere structure will always justify itself, and architects who
can not obtain living ornamentation will do well to fall back on
structure well fitted for its purpose, and as finely finished as may be
without carvings and other adornments. It would be better still if
architects would make the demand for a more intellectual code of
ornament than we have been accustomed to for so long.
On the side of the carver, either in wood or in stone, we want men who
will give us their own thought in their own work--as artists, that
is--and will not be content to be mere hacks supplying imitations of all
styles to order.
On the teaching of wood-carving I should like to say a word, as I have
watched the course of instruction in many schools. It is desirable that
classes should be provided with casts and photographs of good examples,
such as Mr. Jack speaks of, varying from rough choppings up to minute
and exquisite work, but all having the breath of life about them. There
should also be a good supply of illustrations and photographs of birds
and beasts and flowers, and above all, some branches and buds of real
leafage. Then I would set the student of design in wood-carving to make
_variations_ of such examples according to his own skill and liking. If
he and the teacher could be got to clear their minds of ideas of
"style," and to take some example simply because they liked it, and to
adapt it just because it amused them, the mystery of design would be
nearly solved. Most design will always be the making of one thing like
another, with a difference. Later, motives from Nature should be brought
in, but always with some guidance as to treatment, from an example known
to be fine. I would say, for instance, "Do a panel like this, only let
it be oak foliage instead of vine, and get a thrush or a parrot out of
the bird book."
In regard to the application of carving, I have been oppressed by the
accumulation in carving classes of little carved squares and oblongs,
having no relation to anything that, in an ordinary way, is carved. To
carve the humblest real thing, were it but a real toy for a child, would
be better than the production of these panels, or of the artificial
trivialities which our minds instinctively associate with bazaars.
W. R. LETHABY.
_September, 1903._
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
TO THE READER,
Be you 'prentice or student, or what is still better, both in one, I
introduce the following pages to you with this explanation: that all
theoretical opinions set forth therein are the outcome of many years of
patient sifting and balancing of delicate questions, and these have with
myself long since passed out of the category of mere "opinions" into
that of settled convictions. With regard to the practical matter of
"technique," it lies very much with yourself to determine the degree of
perfection to which you may attain. This depends greatly upon the amount
of application which you may be willing or able to devote to its
practise.
Remember--the laws which govern all good art must be known before they
can be obeyed; they are subtle, but unalterable. The conditions most
favorable to your craft must first be understood before these laws can
be recognized. There yet remains at your own disposal that devotion of
energy which is the first essential step, both in the direction of
obtaining clearer views and in conquering technical difficulties.
I have to thank the following gentlemen for their assistance in
providing photographs for some of the illustrations: Messrs. Bedford
Lemere & Co.--H. Sandland--Charles C. Winmill--W. Weir--J. R. Holliday
and F. K. Rives.
G. J.
_September, 1903._
CONTENTS
PAGE
Editor's Preface 7
Author's Preface 15
CHAPTER I
PREAMBLE
Student and Apprentice, their Aims and Conditions of Work--Necessity
for Some Equality between Theory and Practise--The Student's
Opportunity lies on the Side of Design 25