Legend has it that the forest of the world are inhabited by elusive creatures known as "Wood Spirits." Tom Wolfe finds them everywhere and brings them to life in this delightful new instructional book. Using found wood such as driftwood, roots, and old beams from dilapidated barns, he leads the reader through the carving of wondrous, fanciful faces, that are both enchanting and beautiful. On a smaller scale, Tom also finds the Wood Spirits in walking sticks, creating treasures that are handsome and functional at the same time. Tom has been carving these Spirits for years, and they are constantly in demand. Now he leads the carver, step-by-step, through their creation, each step illustrated in beautiful color photographs. An extensive gallery is included, jam-packed with examples and ideas for the reader's own work.

The Gayer-Anderson Cat has been one of the most admired objects at the British Museum since its arrival in 1947. This book presents a detailed description of the cat and a discussion of its possible meaning and role in ancient times. Surprising new finds from scientific analyses are presented for the first time, shedding light on the cats somewhat traumatic modern history, from its acquisition by the British Army major and avid antiquities collector John Gayer-Anderson to its donation to the British Museum. The fascinating narrative is complemented by outstanding new photography.

The V&A's collection of ivory carvings from the period 1200 to 1550 is one of the most important in the world, and this is the first catalogue of it to be published since 1929. Together with the earlier volume, Medieval Ivory Carvings: Early Christian to Romanesque (V&A, 2010), the books make available over 400 pieces of the ivory carver's art, discussing in detail many of the most celebrated ivories of the Middle Ages. Included here are masterpieces from the most important centres of ivory carving in the Gothic era. Among them are the Salting Leaf and Soissons Diptych from thirteenthcentury France; the early-fourteenth-century Salting Diptych from England; Giovanni Pisano's Crucified Christ and the Aldobrandini Crozier from Italy; and the unique Wingfield-Digby Crozier from fourteenth-century Norway. Additionally, important groups of Virgin and Child statuettes, tabernacle polyptychs, diptychs, triptychs, writing tablets, croziers, mirror backs, caskets and the products of the Florentine and Venetian Embriachi workshops are catalogued. Appendices include a small group of post- Byzantine and Russian ivories and the results of radiocarbon-dating of selected works. Each entry provides a comprehensive physical and scholarly discussion that incorporates much new research; also included are carvings of dubious authenticity, which are discussed as fully as the genuine pieces. Beautifully illustrated with new colour photography, Medieval Ivory Carvings 1200 - 1550 is the authoritative guide to the V&A's collection and an accessible survey of the subject.

Noted sculptor Ian Norbury gives woodcarvers a thorough, how-to guide to bringing out the beauty of a female face from a block of wood. Using hundreds of photographs and drawings, the author provides in-depth instruction on carving two different adult faces - one European and one Afro-Caribbean - and one child's face. Both beginning and advanced woodcarvers and sculptors will find expert guidance on tackling the unique challenges of carving a female face. Included are sections on the anatomy of the female face, taking photographs and producing patterns, step-by-step instructions, and a photographic gallery of finished carvings to provide inspiration.

These four-legged friends of man have been a favorite subject for carving since the earliest years. From hunting dogs to the family pet, dogs have a special place in the hearts of people and Tom Wolfe manages to capture their personality in his own creative, witty way. Easy to follow step-by-step instruction, with color illustrations.

A comprehensive survey of the intriguing misericord carvings, setting them in their religious context and looking at their different themes and motifs. Misericord carvings present a fascinating corpus of medieval art which, in turn, complements our knowledge of life and belief in the late middle ages. Subjects range from the sacred to the profane and from the fantastic to the everyday, seemingly giving equal weight to the scatological and the spiritual alike. Focusing specifically on England - though with cognisance of broader European contexts - this volume offers an analysis of misericords in relation to other cultural artefacts of the period. Through a series of themed "case studies", the book places misericords firmly within the doctrinal and devotional milieu in which they were created and sited, arguing that even the apparently coarse images to be found beneath choir stalls are intimately linked to the devotional life of the medieval English Church. The analysis is complemented by a gazetteer of the most notable instances. Paul Hardwick isProfessor in English, Leeds Trinity University College.

This book presents a personal collection of ancestor sculpture and protective deities, following the ancient migratory and trade routes of the Austronesian, Southeast Asian Bronze Age, and Hindu-Buddhist peoples. The author, Thomas Murray, has spent a lifetime studying this art through his endeavours as a peripatetic dealer, collector, and field researcher. The objects illustrated come from a swath of widely varied cultures from Nepal eastward to Hawaii, with the overwhelming majority from Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Murray's eye is highly informed and based on an unusually large sampling of objects to which his experience and research have exposed him. The artworks documented represent some of the top examples he has acquired and retained over the course of a long career. They are characterised by sculptural balance and a harmony of line, as well as a rare quality of expressiveness. Each ranks high in terms of aesthetics and desirability within its own particular style as perceived by the art market and by other western aficionados.

Woodcarving remains one of the most popular crafts in the U.S. and continues to grow in popularity. While there are many books on how to carve wood, including Taunton's popular How to Carve Wood (1985), this book provides inspiration for carvers through original patterns. Any carver knows that once the technique is mastered, the greatest challenge is finding clear, well-illustrated designs to carve. This book solves that problem by offering a wide variety of carefully detailed drawings of designs especially suited to carving.

Trained in European carving and drawing techniques, artist/author Lora Irish presents an extensive library of ornamental designs with a traditional look. Included here are classic ornamental motifs from 18th century and other period furniture as well as original designs by the author. The motifs include line designs, triangular designs, square and rectangular designs, circular and oval designs, S- and C-curve designs, mirror-image designs, and free-form designs.

The book can be used in number of ways: The drawings can be adapted to the carver's preference or used directly as patterns, easily enlarged by photocopying and transferred directly to the wood to be carved. The patterns can also be used in other woodcrafts including woodburning and woodpainting.

With clear instructions and vivid color photographs, Al Streetman takes woodcarvers through all the steps necessary to release a wood spirit from a cypress knee. Using the shapes suggested by the forms of the knees themselves, Al carves both a complete Santa figure and a Santa ornament as the central projects of the book. Also included are a listing of tools used in the projects, directions for painting and antiquing the completed carvings, and a color gallery featuring additional cypress knee Santa figures to inspire the carver. This book will present interesting challenges to the novice and be a joy for the more advanced woodcarver.

A year ago Helen Gibson shared her techniques for carving the human figures of the nativity story: Mary, Joseph, Jesus, the wise men, and the shepherds. Now she returns to the story to complete the scene by carving the animals, of the nativity: camels, sheep, cattle, and donkeys. Helen has a highly detailed style of carving that is perfect for this subject. The reader is lead step-by-step through the process of carving one of the animals. Clear color photographs illustrate every cut. A gallery of the other animals shown from every angle and patterns help the carver complete the set.

This is a beginner's guide from the world's most renowned chip carver! Wayne Barton - author of "Chip Carving and Art of Chip Carving" - presents what is unquestionably the finest guidance ever for the novice. He has been the driving force behind the craft's resurgence and his technical knowledge, design skills and ability to instruct remain unequalled. One by one, with the aid of colour photographs, he covers tools and materials, the best woods, holding and sharpening chip carving knives and laying out and transferring patterns. Borders, grids, rosettes, free-form design, positive image design and lettering all receive separate, in-depth chapters, as does Barton's special, time-tested hints.

These ancient creatures from folklore have captured the modern imagination, including Tom Wolfe's. In this book he brings his creativity and skill to the task of creating a whole community of gnomes, bringing them to life from a block of wood. With each step illustrated in full color, Tom takes the carver cut-by-cut to a finished figure. The book includes a gallery and patterns for 5 other gnomes plus "gnome" accessories such as mushrooms and a cart. The gnomes are exciting projects, allowing the carver to add a little of his or her own creativity to the work. The step-by-step illustrations mean that even the beginning carver can end up with a gnome he or she will be proud of. In this book, Tom makes extensive use of the power carving tools that have found such widespread acceptance in the carving community. Tom uses them principally for finishing and detail work; carvers will find his techniques helpful.

This concise, beautifully illustrated guide explores the enigmatic Franks Casket, carved from whalebone in 8th century northern England, and decorated with scenes from tales both pagan and Christian, as well as runic inscriptions. Leslie Webster helps the general reader to make sense of its iconography and meaning, the processes of its manufacture, and its somewhat confused history - it was rediscovered in modern times in France, whilst one panel remains in Florence.

Santa Claus, elves, gnomes, wizards. These fanciful characters delight and mesmerize us. All of them are magical creatures, possessing great and wondrous powers. Tom Wolfe has a bit of this magic himself. In his hands a piece of wood, carved with the simplest tools, is transformed and takes on a personality of its own. They come to life. The projects he shares in this book are perfect for the beginning carver, or the person who likes to whittle for fun and relaxation. They also give the opportunity for the more experienced carvers to be creative and expand their repertoire. Whether the carver is experienced or not, the objects in this book are just plain fun and make wonderful gifts.

'You will have a moment of quiet delight and a mood of introspection to carry you away.' Edmund de Waal Prized by collectors from East to West, Japanese netsuke are tiny objects of wonder that originated as utilitarian accessories for traditional Japanese dress. Over the centuries these small carved toggles, designed to hook over the top of the kimono sash, evolved into high-fashion depictions of all aspects of Japanese life. In this richly illustrated and highly accessible book, Julia Hutt draws on the V&A's world-famous netsuke collection to explore the origins and techniques of this captivating art form.

Caricatures demand the same skill and sense of proportion that realistic figures do. This is particularly true of carving heads, which can easily become grotesque looking if certain rules are not followed. With his years of carving, Pete LeClair has developed a sure-fire method for carving great caricature heads. Now he shares it with carvers around the country. He takes the reader step-by-step through the process of carving 33 projects, with each step illustrated with a color photograph and precise caption. A gallery showing the variety that can be achieved by following this method is included in the back.

Engravers Gerd and Patrick Dreher are famous the world over for their masterly animal figures, each of which is cut from a single gemstone. In the early twentieth century, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather all cut gemstones for Faberge - mostly agate but also ruby, obsidian, aquamarine, citrine and rock crystal. Today, creations are still being meticulously made by hand using traditional techniques. The realistic miniature forms of mice, snails, toads, monkeys and hippos are designed by the two artists in multilayered and coloured gemstones so that, for example, the faces, palms of the hand or soles of the feet shine in an iridescent red-brown agate while the bodies are worked in the glossy deep black part of the stone. These unique engravings are today some of the rarest examples of the highest quality in craftsmanship, and represent fascination of the highest cultural degree in a world of increasing globalisation.

In 1428, a devastating fire destroyed a schoolhouse in the northern Italian city of Forli, leaving only a woodcut of the Madonna and Child that had been tacked to the classroom wall. The people of Forli carried that print - now known as the Madonna of the Fire - into their cathedral, where two centuries later a new chapel was built to enshrine it. In this book, Lisa Pon considers a cascade of moments in the Madonna of the Fire's cultural biography: when ink was impressed onto paper at a now-unknown date; when that sheet was recognized by Forli's people as miraculous; when it was enshrined in various tabernacles and chapels in the cathedral; when it or one of its copies was - and still is - carried in procession. In doing so, Pon offers an experiment in art historical inquiry that spans more than three centuries of making, remaking, and renewal.

This volume follows the development of Greek gem engraving from Alexander to Augustus. Hellenistic gems are studied in their archaeological context with an assessment of the evidence of their use, significance, and value. The book focuses on subject-matter, technique, and style, as well as problems of chronology and distribution.

When was the Dome of the Rock built and what meanings was the structure meant to convey to viewers at the time of its construction? These are questions that have preoccupied historians of Islamic art and architecture, and numerous interpretations of the Dome of the Rock have been proposed. This book returns to one of the most important pieces of evidence: the mosaic inscriptions running around the two faces of the octagonal arcade. Detailed examination of the physical characteristics, morphology and content of these inscriptions provides new evidence concerning: the chronology of the planning, construction, and decoration of the building; the iconography of the Dome of the Rock; the evolution of Arabic epigraphy in the early Islamic period; and the public expression of religious concepts under the Umayyad caliphs.

National Jewish Book Awards Finalist for the Visual Arts Award, 2017. The carved wooden Torah arks found in eastern Europe from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries were magnificent structures, unparalleled in their beauty and mystical significance. The work of Jewish artisans, they dominated the synagogues of numerous towns both large and small throughout the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, inspiring worshippers with their monumental scale and intricate motifs. Virtually none of these superb pieces survived the devastation of the two world wars. Bracha Yaniv's pioneering work therefore breathes new life into a lost genre, making it accessible to scholars and students of Jewish art, Jewish heritage, and religious art more generally. Making use of hundreds of pre-war photographs housed in local archives, she develops a vivid portrait of the history and artistic development of these arks, the scope and depth of her meticulous research successfully compensating for the absence of physical remains. In this way she has succeeded in producing a richly illustrated and comprehensive overview of a classic Jewish religious art form. Professor Yaniv's analysis of the historical context in which these arks emerged includes a broad survey of the traditions that characterized the local workshops of Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine. She also provides a detailed analysis of the motifs carved into the Torah arks and explains their mystical significance, among them representations of Temple imagery and messianic themes-and even daring visual metaphors for God. Fourteen arks are discussed in particular detail, with full supporting documentation; appendices relating to the inscriptions on the arks and to the artisans' names will further facilitate future research. This seminal work throws new light on long-forgotten traditions of Jewish craftsmanship and religious understanding.

In 1428, a devastating fire destroyed a schoolhouse in the northern Italian city of Forli, leaving only a woodcut of the Madonna and Child that had been tacked to the classroom wall. The people of Forli carried that print - now known as the Madonna of the Fire - into their cathedral, where two centuries later a new chapel was built to enshrine it. In this book, Lisa Pon considers a cascade of moments in the Madonna of the Fire's cultural biography: when ink was impressed onto paper at a now-unknown date; when that sheet was recognized by Forli's people as miraculous; when it was enshrined in various tabernacles and chapels in the cathedral; when it or one of its copies was - and still is - carried in procession. In doing so, Pon offers an experiment in art historical inquiry that spans more than three centuries of making, remaking, and renewal.

Comparatively easily mastered and needing few expensive tools or materials, stickmaking is an increasingly popular craft. This book examines tools and techniques; different types of sticks; materials both traditional and new; the microwave in hornwork; fancy sticks and miniature sticks; and jointing and finishing. Highly illustrated with colour photographs and line drawings "Stickmaking "is a fully comprehensive guide to this fascinating craft.

Dramatic social and political change marks the period from the end of the Late Bronze Age into the Iron Age (ca. 1300 700 BCE) across the Mediterranean. Inland palatial centers of bureaucratic power weakened or collapsed ca. 1200 BCE while entrepreneurial exchange by sea survived and even expanded, becoming the Mediterranean-wide network of Phoenician trade. At the heart of that system was Kition, one of the largest harbor cities of ancient Cyprus. Earlier research has suggested that Phoenician rule was established at Kition after the abandonment of part of its Bronze Age settlement. A reexamination of Kition s architecture, stratigraphy, inscriptions, sculpture, and ceramics demonstrates that it was not abandoned. This study emphasizes the placement and scale of images and how they reveal the development of economic and social control at Kition from its establishment in the thirteenth century BCE until the development of a centralized form of government by the Phoenicians, backed by the Assyrian king, in 707 BCE."