Part II

while it is moist, into powdered glass. When dry these make admir- able finishers, and they can be again dipped when the glass begins to wear off Glass may in this manner be put on the ends of old bent files. When there are figures of animals, or leaves, or bands intended to be thus finished and polished all'aiitico, or to resemble worn work, it is not advisable to put in them too much inside work or in-lines. Inside work is, for instance, the feathers on a bird, the hair on an animal, the scales on a fish, the middle lines and A veins of leaves. very {^^ lines to serve as indications must suffice. But the student of old and time-worn carving cannot fail to draw all these conclusions for himself The last finish to be given to such work may be executed by rubbing with the hand. This communicates to certain kinds of wood and other substances a peculiar polish, which nothing else can really give. In a very large proportion of simple flat or ribbon-work the effect is very much increased or improved by polishing the pattern. 68 A Manual of Wood-Carving. and leaving the ground rough or indenting it. This is not only perfectly legitimate, but commonly done in marble or metal repousse of every kind, as well as leather-work, and yet every writer on wood-carving repeats as a duty the injunction that there must be " no polishing," and nothing but cutting. This is, indeed, equivalent to prohibiting the application of wood-carving to furniture, objects to be handled, house and many other kinds of decoration. But, in fact, there are instances in decoration in which paint or dyes, French polish, nails or other metal work, may be most artistically and beautifully combined with woodcarving, as many thousands of relics of the Middle Ages and Renaissance prove. Polishing a pattern makes it shine, while roughing or dotting a surface darkens it. Therefore, when we want in decoration bold effects of light and shade, we may legitimately polish the parts which are in relief Elaborately cut work which is to be studied by itself in detail, and not simply as a part of a whole, need not be polished or rough ; its finish will depend on the conditions of its design. ELEVENTH LESSON. -- DIAPER-WORK STAMPED DIAPER-PATTERNS-- CUTTING DIAPERS. HAT which is called diaper- work is where the ground consists of one gene- rally small pattern fre- quently repeated at reogular intervals. It is so called from the well- known diaper or figured linen cloth, from the Old French diapre, meaning the same, from the verb diaprcz, to diaper, or " diver- " sifie with flourishings (Cotgrave). The verb, according to Skeat, is from the Old French diaspre, later jasper, a stone much used for ornamental jewellery. Italian, diaspro, a jasper. " Diaper, yo A Manual of Wood- Carving. to decorate with a variety of colours, or to embroider on a rich ground" (Anglo-Norman). "There was a rich figured cloth so called" (Strutt, ii. 6), as "also a kind of printed linen" (Halli- well). The latter are still common. It is, however, most probable that the word really comes, as Fairholt asserts, from Ypres, i.e., d'Ypres, which was famous for such work. Some writers apply the term to merely dotting, indenting, or roughen- ing a ground, but it is properly applicable to small figures. Stamped Diaper Patterns. These may be produced firstly and most readily by means of wood, stamped or punched, Fig. 23 and 27, and a hammer or mallet. Practise with these first on waste wood. It is not at first easy to repeat them at perfectly regular intervals, making one the same as the other. The work is greatly facilitated by drawing lines like a chequer or chess-board on the ground, and making a stamp or diaper in every dot, or all along the lines. Punches for this purpose may be had in great variety. This class of stamped work is very effective for narrow edgings and borders, and on fillets, which would other- wise be tedious and difficult to carve. With but little practice this work can be executed with great rapidity. Cutting Diapers. There are some patterns which are very easily cut with a single tool, as, for instance, squares, diamonds, and triangles. For these a firmer or chisel is sufficient. The reader will observe that one square, etc., is removed alternately, and another left. In designing or selecting these, or any diapers, care must be taken to choose such as fit together exactly. But any figures of this kind, whatever they are, are well adapted for grounds. A more advanced style of diaper-work is made by cutting lines with the parting-tool or smallest gouge, unless, indeed, you are expert enough to do it with a chisel or firmer. This was the commonest kind of diapering on caskets in the A Middle Ages. very pretty effect was often produced by filling Fig. 50. A SINGLE Diaper repeated. 72 A Manual of Wood-Carving. these lines with dark brown or black paint. In any case, when oiled, or as they grew old, and dust and oil or moisture worked into them, they became dark. It has already been said that any kind of mere line-worVi can be executed on a smooth wooden V surface by means of a tool, or generally by a small gouge. It may also be effected with a tracing-wheel, or with a tracer, or with any rather dull-pointed instrument. In hard wood of a light colour very beautiful effects may thus be produced. The next step is to cut lines, and combine with these cutting out and excavating spaces, as in ordinary carving. Nevertheless, it is not, as a rule, a good plan to make diapers too ornamental or elaborate ; for this will lead to making them large, and then they will draw attention from the pattern, if there is one, or the main figures. When the whole surface is all diaper, as in a carpet, the diapers may be as large and as elaborate as one chooses to make them. There is but one general rule for designing the diaper. Draw a chess-board, and then by diagonals convert these into " points up and down," squares, or triangles ; or fill the equal spaces with equilateral triangles, hexagons, circles, or pentagons, etc' These may be filled in with any suitable decoration. In Fig. 50 portions of the original surface of the panel have been left as ridges to separate the diapers, and then every one of the latter has been carved with the same ornament ; a rather advanced example, but cut only in moderate relief. Another plate. Fig. 52, gives a variety of suitable figures in low relief; some two or three of these should be chosen and repeated in regular order in neighbouring spaces. Where the main object is simple decoration of surfaces, plain diaper-cutting is an important industry, and one by means of which, with no very great degree of skill, beautiful results may be ^ To draw these and ornament them, consult " Drawing and Designing," by C. G. Leland ; London, Whittaker and Co. Fig. 51. A VARIETY OF DiAPER PATTERNS. 74 A Manual of Wood-Ca7'ving. obtained. Thus, large pieces of furniture, chests, and especially walls or wainscoats, may be expeditiously adorned by means of it, even by one who is far from being able to carve in the round or cut leaves. It may be very much facilitated in many ways, One of these is to cut out the patterns in duplicate, many at once in paper, paste them on the wood, and carve round them. Then wet the paper, and thoroughly remove it with a stiff brush. Another plan is to cut out the pattern in card-board, thin brass, or wood, and stencil it with a lead pencil or colour which will wash off. Then cut away as before. It is extremely easy, when we have once cut a certain figure a few times, to go on repeating ' it, and beginners can, therefore, with great advantage, be set at diaper-cutting, since they thereby acquire not only a familiarity with the use of the tools, but by dint of repetition familiarize themselves perfectly with at least one process ; for the greatest trouble in all arts and studies is. that they do not, at any early step, sufficiently master any one thing. TWELFTH LESSON. BUILDING-UP, OR APPLIQU� WORK. T ;>;? will often happen that in carvinc^, while most of the work is on a le'el, some portion, generally the centre, will rise above the rest, or project beyond it, illustrated by Fig. 12. It would often be a waste of wood and time to cut this out of a single piece. In such cases we merely glue an extra piece of wood on, and carve it into shape. Sometimes in carving a face, only the nose, and perhaps the chin, require to be added. It is said that this method of gluing wood on to wood to obtain additional relief was first extensively practised by Grinling Gibbons. In Germany this addition of a central " boss " is so well understood, that in many shops they sell heads or faces of men, women, or animals, wreaths, and similar centres or bosses for carvers who can execute flat or ribbon-work, but not high relief In this ; 76 A Manual of Wood-Carving. way very ornamental or showy pieces of work may be executed with the least possible pains and expense. In the same manner a piece of old carving, or, it may be, several pieces, are taken or saved from some half-ruined ancient specimen, and well glued on a sound piece of old wood exactly like them in colour and texture. This is then carved in the same style. In this way really valuable work may be easily made, for such half-decayed pieces of old carving are too often thrown away, and may often be purchased for a trifle. Still, this method of applique, or applied wood on wood, though it may be resorted to in certain cases to save a great deal of cutting and material, may be carried too far, when it degenerates into mere manufacture. Appliqii^ v^oxV. of this kind falls still further into manufacture when it consists of thin boards, cut into patterns with a fret or scroll-saw, worked up with gouges, and then glued on wood. This is plain imitation. Yet it may be borne in mind, though most writers on the subject deny it, that while it is absolutely not high or legitimate art, there is no law and no reason against it and if a man can contrive no better way to ornament his house, And he is perfectly in the right in doing so, if he thinks fit. it he can afford the time, skill, and materials, he will probably advance from applique \ox\i to something better. In any case he will have learned something by it, and it is worth learning. It is too often the case with high art critics, that they exact that everybody must have finished taste and high perceptions all at once, with no regard to expense. The pupil may now attempt an easy piece of applique woxV. Take a panel. Fig. 52, and trace on it the pattern. Leave a blank flat space of the original surface, called the "seat," for the figures, of their precise size, and then work out the ground. Where this consists of a diaper, it may be made either by carving or by stamping. Having finished the diapered ground, Fig. 52. Applique Work. Dragon in Thin Wood, Applique on a Diaper Ground. ; 78 A Manual of Wood-Carving saw or cut out the figures, glue them into their places, and carve them ; or the carving may be executed before the application. Applique work is liable to the objection, especially where large surfaces are laid on, that two pieces of wood are seldom of precisely the same quality and texture, and that, therefore, they may sometimes afterwards shrink or swell in different directions, with the natural result of warping and splitting. This is sometimes remedied by using screws as well as glue but the best preventive of such accidents is to cut both the ground and the piece glued on to it from the same piece of wood, of course perfectly seasoned. > In many cases frames or borders may be appliqiie or glued on. If the work be intended for an album or book-cover, the frame may be made a trifle higher than the central ornament, to protect it from being scratched when lying with the face on any surface. This will not be necessary if it be used for a panel in the side of a box or in a wall. THIRTEENTH LESSON. CARVING IN THE ROUND. ARVING in the round is cutting an object which is finished on every side, as a bust or statue. It is in fact " statuary." It seems to be very difficult work to a beginner, but the pupil who has mastered the rudiments which are laid down in this book, and who can measure and cut a low relief of an inch, or a high relief pattern of two or three inches, will find no trouble whatever in carving something small in the round, and in progressing from this to something larger. The steps in wood- carving from hammering an indented pattern to carving a statue are perfectly defined, and very easy if they are thoroucihly mastered one at a time. Carving in the round will be least difficult to the one who can model his work in clay or modelling-wax. T^.s - especal y easy if he 'n fact so he latter alternates carving with des.gnnig =">J "�f;"'"e ''� ' great an aid to carving, that there should be httle of without it. He who has modelled anythn,g n, clay 8o A Manual of Wood-Carving. or wax has, in a way, carved it in a soft material, while true carving is only modelling with gouges and chisels. There is no difficulty for one who has mastered the first six lessons of this book, in carving half a duck or fish in relief If he could carve the other side and join them he would have the animal complete. F'rom blocking out simple forms, such as ducks, fish, hares, or game, in high relief, the carver soon learns how to " rough " almost anything. Having made a bust in clay, he knows where a bit is to be removed or cut away here or there. He studies it as he proceeds, alternately in profile or full-face, and continually measures with callipers and compasses to see that he is preserving all the proportions. The practice which he has had in delicately carving, grooving, sweeping, and modelling leaves, in cutting the hair of game, imitating basket- work, etc., will all now come into play. As regards fitting certain tools to form the eye-balls, eye-lids, etc., if the pupil does not as yet know the measure and capacity of his tools, he has worked to little purpose. If he should be in doubt from time to time, let him just carve an eye, or a lip, or mouth, on a piece of waste wood, and he will have no difiiculty in repeating it ; and he who grudges the time for such practice will never make an artist, Fig. 53. The great difficulty in carving in deep relief and in the round, is to get the general sweep and contour and proportions of the whole, and this is difficult for a pupil who does not design, and shade, and model, while it is a mere trifle.to one who does. The cutting and blocking out, which seems to be the great difficulty, is a merely mechanical process, performed with compasses, carving tools, and rasps, and sometimes with a steel bow-saw, And here and there. it presents no difficulties to any intelligent person who has carefully executed all that is described in the previous lessons, especially to one who has carved animals and simple figures, or faces, in high relief. 13 C c 82 A Manual of Wood-Carving. It is true that in shops where much large and coarse work is executed, as, for instance, great pieces for ceilings, figures for facades, and the like, the sculptor, trained from the beginning to the sweep-cut and to bold chipping, makes little account of any difficulty, and proceeds to carve with great confidence. Now what the student must endeavour to attain is some of the confidence of the mere workman with the culture and knowledge of the artist. And he should, whenever an opportunity presents itself, try to see practical carvers of all kinds at work, for in this way he will learn much which no books give. It is to be recommended that the first attempts at carving in the round be made in soft pine wood, as it is of course most easily modelled. No one should be discouraged because a first or second effort has turned out a failure. I have observed that many writers on the art treat carving in high relief, or in the round, as if the first effect in it must necessarily be a human head or figure, that is to say, the most difficult of all objects. But he who can cut out a wooden shoe, or a rabbit, or a fish, or the simplest object, on a large scale, on all its sides, will, if he repeats this till he can do it easily, have mastered the greatest difficulty which alarms beginners, that of blocking out from all sides. In the head by Civitale, full half-round, which may easily be made full round, the carver may begin by modelling the whole. If this is not convenient, let him mark out with the compasses the different dimensions, and carefully bring the whole into form by first rounding all into a rude shape, and then very gradually cut away the hollows. No detailed descriptions of exactly what tools to choose for certain places, or how to work, would be of any real use to the pupil who has carefully executed the previous lessons, as he will not have a single cut which he has not made before, and in this instance a little voluntary ingenuity and reflection will do more good than any instruction. Head, bv Cn'riALE. /'. 82. m. APPENDIX TO LESSON XIII. ON THE USE OF THE SAW. {By John }. Holtzapjfd.) The steel buhl saw-frame (Fig. i6) may be very usefully em- ployed for removing many of the superfluous portions of the material in the earliest stages of carving in the round, as in large or small figurini, and for those parts which have to be cut away to leave the outlines or margins between leaves and other orna- ments in flat works. In such cases it is to be recommended, for its use not only saves much time, but also the risk of breakages, to which the work is very liable when these portions have to be removed entirely with the carving-tool. In round carving, the block, more or less roughly marked out on its surfaces to some approach to its ultimate form with thick pencil or crayon lines, may be held on the work-bench by the carver's screw (Fig. lo), or if that be not convenient, or if it be A flat work, it can be held in the vice. coarse strong buhl saw- blade is employed ; this is first fixed in the screw jaw at the further side of the saw-frame ; the handle of the latter is then unscrewed until it projects its jaw about half-an-inch, and at the moment the other end of the blade is fixed therein, the two jaws are also made to approach one another by pressing the further side of the saw-frame against the work-bench, with the handle against the workman's chest after this, the handle is screwed ; back again until its jaw returns home to its former position. The back of the saw-blade is towards the back of the saw-frame, and the teeth of the blade should point away from the handle, easily discovered by passing the finger along them, and when the saw is properly strained for use it should ring like a harp string. In use, the handle of the frame is grasped by all the fingers of the hand, except the forefinger, which is stretched straigiit out 84 A Manual of Wood-Carving along it in the direction of the saw; the latter is pushed straight forward and withdrawn with moderate pressure, just sufficient to cause it to cut, and is twisted about to follow the directions of the lines or curves of the piece to be removed. During the sawing the outstretched forefinger is an unerring guide for the direction of the cut. When a piece has to be removed from between others which have to be left, as between the body and the bend of the arm, or between the legs of a figure, a small hole is first drilled through the block and the saw threaded through it before it is strained ; and the only necessary precaution throughout in using the saw, is to leave sufficient material everywhere for perfect freedom in the subsequent carving by not cutting anywhere too close. An entirely different method is followed in cutting out moulds, the pieces to be used for applique carving, and for the outlines of fretwork or panels pierced with many interstices of which the surface is afterwards to be carved. These works cannot be held fast in the vice or otherwise, not only because they are often thin and liable to fracture, but because, if so held, it is impossible to attain the desired true, easy-flowing outlines required at once without subsequent correction, which can be produced without difficulty when the workis perfectly free. The professional hand fret-cutter, who produces the best and most elaborate work, such objects as the long, thin, pierced panels to be backed with silk for the fronts of pianofortes, uses a similar, but much deeper, yet light saw-frame made of wood, with the same steel screw-jaws, hung to the ceiling by a cord. He sits astride a bench called " a horse," which has two tall vertical jaws in front of him, their upper edges lined with brass, or sometimes with cork. The further jaw is fixed to withstand the thrust of the saw, the other is notched below and springs open when left to itself, but is closed by a diagonal strut resting loosely in mortise smade in the face of the bench and in that of �the movable jaw ; the strut is pulled downwards to close the jaw on the work by means of a cord passing from it through a hole in the bench to a treadle beneath the workman's foot. The sur- faces of his work are, therefore, vertical, and the work itself is very lightly held, so that he can twist it about in all directions with the The Use of the Saw. 85 left hand, while he keeps the saw steadily traversing backwards and forwards in the same plane horizontally, with the rifht. A simpler support, called a " saw table," Fig. 7 b, is used, and thoroughly answers every purpose for the smaller class of works which we are considering. This tool consists of an oblong piece of wood, perfectly flat, smooth and polished on its upper surface, at the one end of which there is a slot of about an inch wide ; beneath, it has a cross piece of wood to keep the imple- ment steady on the bench or table on which it is placed, and a clamp and screw to fix it there. The work, first pierced with the holes for threading the saw through all its intended interstices, has the saw placed through one of them, strained as before, and is then laid down, pattern uppermost, on the saw table, upon which it is lightly held and twisted about by the points of all five fingers of the left hand planted vertically upon it ; the saw is worked up and down vertically in the slot by the right hand, the handle below the saw table. The aim here is to keep the saw working always in the same place, and to let the curve or line result from the perfectly free movement of the work alone. The saw-blades employed are much finer than those previously referred to ; they are tightly strained in the same way as before, but they are placed in the frame so that the teeth now point the reverse way, towards the handle, and the cut, therefore, takes place at the downward stroke. The saws in ordinary use, such as the brass-backed tenon and dove-tail saws and the key-hole saws of the carpenter, also find constant employment in first roughly shaping and preparing the blocks and panels to be subsequently carved ; in their use it is only necessary, as in all sawing upon carved works, to cut just sufificiently wide of the lines marked to ensure that all saw-marks will be removed by the carving tool. FOURTEENTH LESSON. INCISED, INTAGLIO, OR SUNK CARVING. EEP carving, as it is termed certain writers, is now known among artists as incised, sunk, or intaglio. It is an advanced form of gouge-cutting. It is a very beauti- ful yet easy kind of work, which was ex- tensively practised in Italy in early times, and which is deserv- ing special attention because of its appli- cability not only to bold, large, and even -- -- coarse decoration which was, however, very effective but to the most delicate and minute objects. "It may," says General Fig. 54. Incised Carving. 88 A Manual of Wood-Carving. Seaton, who was the first to describe it, which he does with much enthusiasm, " be called sunk carving, for, contrary to the usual method, the carving is sunk, while the ground is left at its original level." Like engraving on metal, it cuts into the ground, and depends entirely on outline, or drawing, and shadow for its effects. It is suitable for book-covers, or to be employed wherever the carving is liable to be handled or rubbed, because, being sunk beneath the ground, it cannot be rubbed or injured till the ground itself is worn down. -- Take any wood except a coarse one, holly, beech, oak, -- poplar, pear, or walnut, and let the surface be well planed, or perhaps polished. If it be a wood of light colour, draw your B B pattern with a very soft pencil, say B, on paper, lay it face down on the wood, and rub the back carefully with an ivory or other polisher. The work is chiefly executed with bent gouges and grainers, flat and hollow, with two or three bent chisels and stamps, and it often happens that a good piece of incised carving can be executed with very few tools. It is executed almost entirely by hand, or without hammering. Choose some simple pattern, your object being to learn how to cut and not to produce something startling at a first effort. If the wood be dark, such as American walnut, mark the pattern through with the prick-wheel or dot, Fig. 54. If the pupil Jias not perfect eyesight, or expects to carve at night, it is advisable to outline this dot line with a very fine camel's hair brush and Chinese white. This prevents many mistakes. Take, to begin, a small gouge, a little less than the stem to be cut in diameter, and run it along the line. When you cut leaves, get gradually towards the centre. Then take a larger gouge and finish the stems. Keep by you a piece of clay or putty, or moist kneaded bread, and from time to time take an impression of your work. This is important, for the real excellence of intaglio carving w o iz U u G iX o a a u (/> u bX) 90 A Manual of IVood-Carving. consists in its being exactly like relief carving reversed. In this way you will at once perceive, without any special directions, what tools to use in your work. Fig- 55 is a rather advanced example of this class of carving. The whole of the foliage is cut in cavo relievo, or cavities, with gouges and chisels, both straight and bent, and the lines upon V them with bent tools. The duck in the centre may be in ordinary low relief, to give an effective contrast. There is another reason for thus learning to make your work perfect. If you carve in hard wood, you can always use a piece of sunk or intaglio carving for a mould. When it is finished take a piece of russet leather, soak it in water till it is quite soft, press it with your fingers and a sponge for some time with great care into the mould, and then take it off. If your wood be well cut, the leather when dry will be quite as attractive as the carving itself, and may be used in many ways. The wood will not be injured in the least if you wipe it dry after taking the impression. With such moulds papier-mache casts can also be taken. I have now before me a beautiful specimen of old' Byzantine work made in this manner. There is a peculiar kind of intaglio carving which may be called Egyptian, because the ancient Egyptians used it very extensively on their monuments. It con- sisted of cutting out the outline of a figure in the following manner. On the otitside the carver cut down perpendicularly, while " Eo^^^p^ytian Cutting. the inside pattern was not cut away, but onli y uhadj -i. its edj ges roundjedj. The result of this peculiar groove or cut, straight on one side and rounded or curved on the other, was a very strong relief and shadow. It was in fact a simple combination of relief and incised or cavo carving, by means of \hich a strong relief was Incised Carving. <^\ attained by little work. The main object was to make the inscription solid and durable, and at the same time very legible. The principle, as I have shown, is quite applicable to ornament, and requires much less labour than even intaglio carving. It is something more, in fact much more, than mere outlining, and it is particularly applicable to mural or wall decoration. Incised carving is often much improved by being painted, and sometimes varnished. That is to say, the sunken portion is thus coloured. I have seen white and vermilion used with good effect, but black and dark brown are generally preferred. Gild- ing seems peculiarly rich when thus applied in the hollow, as the shadow gives it a fine tone. Though the imitation of engravings is not within the range of wood-carving, there is, however, a very pretty and easy art by which drawing and painting are very ingeniously combined with a kind of carving. Take a panel of firm wood of lightish colour, well planed and polished. Draw on it any pattern, or even an animal, or human figures. Incise the principal lines V with a tool, or, according to its size, small gouges may be used. For the fine lines and shading, a tracer, or any point to indent, not so sharp as to scratch ; this is a matter of great importance and the wood, which, if possible, should be of box, ; sycamore, beech, or holly, must be adapted or prepared to take ^ mark without breaking. When all the lines are well in, take a miniature fitch pencil, and fill in every line with colour, taking care not to let the paint spread beyond the lines. Different colours may be used. This is hardly wood-carving at all, but in skilful hands it produces beautiful and remarkable effects. It is very effective indeed when applied to leather. As the colour is Slink in the lines, it is well protected ; this kind of ornamentation is therefore well adapted to book-covers. I have applied it successfully to heavy card-board panels prepared for artists to paint on in oil. 92 A Manual of Wood-Carving. As I have said, incised cutting will be found useful to workers in leather, papier-mache, clay, or plaster of Paris, because by means of it they can make moulds. Another kind of mould is made as follows : Cut out with a saw the outline of the pattern in a piece of board thick enough to give the requisite depth. Then glue the perforated board to another board, the surfaces of both being of course first planed and smoothed. This gives the mould in the rough. Then fill in the angles of the hollows with a composition of clay and size, or putty, or rice and lime with white of o:^^, or any other suitable cement, and while it is soft shape it with fingers and tools to the details of the pattern required. When perfectly dry go over it care- fully, taking proofs here and there with putty, and correct with bent files. Then smooth it where it is at all rough, oil it all, and make your cast. Boxwood Powder Flask. Old German. FIFTEENTH LESSON. CARVING CURVED SURFACES : COCOA-NUTS, BOWLS, HORNS, CASKS, TANKARDS, ETC. ARVING concave or convex surfaces, such as the exterior of a horn or the interior of a bowl, is often very difficult work, and though an ingenious artist will readily find out for himself some way to get over such diffi- culties, it is well to know at once how the work may be done. Horns. The first difficulty is to fix the object so as to cut it. A beginner who under- takes to carve such a very hard, slippery, and unmanageable object as a horn, will, if he hold it with one hand while he carves with 94 A Mactual of Wood-Carvmg. the other, inevitably damage his pattern or wound himself. It is very dangerous to hold the work in one hand or between the knees. One way to secure such an object is to take a board, nail cross-pieces on it over the ends of the horn so that a portion may be exposed on which to work, and in this manner one can cut with safety. Again, holdfasts and clamps may be employed, but the utmost care should be taken lest these slip away whenever too great pressure is brought A to bear on them. very good means to keep the horn firm is to have a piece of wood fast to the table in which there is a hole, into which the lesser end of the horn fits, while the butt rests, and is fixed, on the table. Having secured it, outline the pattern V with a tool or very small graining-gouge, and then cut away the ground with quarter-fiat, and finally with fiat gouges. The bent file may be freely used for a horn, and it will be necessary in many places. When bosted, finish with careful touching or fine files and glass-paper. If you wish to colour the horn, select one which is chiefiy white. Take a solution of nitrate of silver, which any chemist will prepare for you. Be very careful indeed how you handle it, for it will burn clothes, carpets, or fiesh, and at least stain your fingers for a long time. With a glass brush, if you can get one, if not, with a glass point, or pen, or agate point, or wax, apply the acid carefully to the pattern. If you use wood for this purpose it will answer, but it is very speedily consumed by the acid. This will make a yellow, or brown, or sometimes a black stain, according to the strength of the solution, the number of times it is applied, and the hardness of the horn. When the horn is covered with diaper-work, or a great many small figures, or a close pattern, then always put the acid into the hollows, A and leave the design in white. black dye for horn, as well as for metal, is made by combining ammonia with sulphur. It is very malodorous, but is efifective. Any chemist will make Curved Surfaces. 95 it, and will also prepare for you the dyes used for ivory and horn. It is better and cheaper for the amateur to buy these than to attempt to make them for himself. In most cases black and brown are the best colours to use. If a horn is boiled in hot water, or steamed, it will become so soft that it may be flattened. Then it is very easy to carve. The author has in his possession two very ancient and singu- larly ornamented Italian horns which were thus shaped. Horn, when treated with quick-lime and hot water, can be reduced to a paste which can be made into any shape like a cement or plaster. It becomes hard again in cold water. All old horns were not used for gunpowder ; many of them were for wine or other liquors ; others were used for blowing ; they all make effec- tive ornaments. Carved horns are handsome ornaments when hung up with cord and tassels. I have made them very attrac- tive by gilding the raised patterns on them. To CARVE A Bowl. The exterior of a bowl presents no special difficulty, if it be well clamped down. It may be secured with blocks and nails, or screws. But the interior is harder to get at and much harder to cut. This is, of course, chiefly done with bent gouges and chisels. It requires care and patience in cases of special trouble. I have, however, easily succeeded in wearing or wasting away the ground by the process which will be described in carving cocoa-nuts. Wooden bowls, which are well adapted to carving, may be bought cheaply at household furnishing shops. They are of the kind used in every kitchen. They may be mounted on bases, such as any turner can make, to which the bowl should be fastened with a screw and glue. Bowls may be coloured or gilded like horns. They are very useful for many purposes, chiefly to contain visitors' cards or other small objects on the writing, work, or toilet table. Cocoa-nuts. If it is to be used as a cup, begin by sawing away the end on which is the " monkey face," or so much as is 96 A Manual of Wood-Carving. desirable. Sometimes the whole nut is left, to be hung up as an amulet, ornament, or charm, as ostrich eggs are hung up in the East. Then clean it smooth with a large rasp till fit to carve. Draw the pattern on this with Chinese white, that there may be no mistakes. Then fix the nut to the board or table, as with the bowl {vide p. 100). The ground may, with patience, be cut away with flat gouges, and, with practice, this becomes really easy, and more expeditious than one would at first suppose. Or it may be done chiefly with files. But the most rapid manner of working is by a "cut" which is described as follows by Gen. Seaton, who, however, limits it to mere decoration for a ground. " There is a species of ornament most useful for the bend of branches, and which is to be seen in Swiss carved brackets. This may be called the zigzag pattern or ornament. It is in- tended to represent the cross-fissures and marks that are seen in the bark of some trees at the end of the branches. It is done with a flat or quarter-round gouge, the hand swaying from side to side, and at the same time advancing by alternate "^"^'^ steps each corner of the tool." That is to say, put the tool straight up and down, and rock it from side to side, and it will require little practice to learn it. But to use it, not for ornament, but a cut, or rather dig, a firmer or chisel is better than a gouge nor need we be very particular ; as to the appearance of the marks made, as they are all, in the end, to be cut or smoothed out. Rock up and down with the firmer, pressing a little flatter than if the object were to only make lines, or so as to scrape away some of the ground. Then from another direction go over this ground, digging and scraping away again. In this manner a shell may be bosted rapidly, and by it one can work at the bottom of a bowl when even the bent tools are of little or no use. When the whole ground is Curved Sui^faces. 97 excavated by this process it may be easily smoothed with files or carving tools. The cuttings from cocoa-nut shell, or waste bits, may be kept, and when pounded to a fine powder, and mixed with glue, they make an admirable cement for repairing walnut or other dark wood work. Fig. 56. A Casks. cask when carved is an admirable object for waste- papers, or holding canes and umbrellas, Fig. 56. It should be of wood at least one inch in thickness. If held together by broad A brass or copper hoops it will be much handsomer. bucket or pail may be carved in like manner; and when lions' heads or other carved ornaments are applied, it will be found that a very ornamental object may be made with little trouble or expense. H 98 A Manual of Wood-Caj^ving. It is easiest to carve casks, kegs, buckets, or firkins, up and down, or in a perpendicular position, and to stand up while at the work, as a true carver is sure in the end to do at all his work. Fig- 57. Tankards and Waste-Paper Boxes. Tankards, if small, may be turned from solid wood, but, when large, it is best to have them made by the cooper, of several pieces, and hooped Fig. 58. Old Irish Tankard. lOO A Manual of Wood-Carving. with metal. To make the design for all such cylindrical objects, take a piece of paper which will exactly go round, or correspond to the surface, and be sure to make the pattern continuous, that is, without breaks, unless it be designed in divisions. Wooden measures, such as are used by dealers in nuts, fruit, etc., are well adapted to carving for tankards. They may be bought at general furnishing shops. The old Irish, and sometimes the Danes, made a rude kind of tankard, Fig. 58, by fastening together with nails, glue, or screws, four pieces of oak panel or thin board. It was like drinking from a box. It makes a useful receptacle for many purposes. Cocoa-nut Goblet. SIXTEENTH LESSON. BOSSES, KNOBS, BARS, AND POLISHED ORNAMENTS. HERE are several small effects in ornament which the carver should study with care ; they are generally applicable to most kinds of de- corative art. The first of these is the employ- ment of bossesorknobs, some left plain, and some carved, hemi- spherical or less. They may be almost flat, but are always smooth at the edge and polished. They were very exten- sively used in early -carving and metal-work, and