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."

This full colour coffee table book celebrates Zimbabwe Stone Sculpture – those who create it and those who honour it. The reader is invited to join Stuart Danks on a journey through the fascinating history of Zimbabwe Stone Sculpture and its relevance today.

Readers learn about the process whereby stone is mined, transported great distances, and then skillfully carved by hand into magnificent pieces of art, many of which can be found in museums, galleries, hotels, official buildings and homes throughout the world.

The book includes information about some of the main artists who have created the sculpture that continues to fascinate the world, accompanied by beautiful photographs of their work.

Mr Sparrow traces the development of the inscription as a literary form in Renaissance and post-Renaissance Europe. He defines the 'literary' inscription as 'a text composed with a view to its being presented in lines of different lengths, the lineation contributing to or enhancing the meaning, so that someone who does not see it, actually or in the mind's eye, but only hears it read aloud, misses something of the intended effect'. Mr Sparrow attributes the Renaissance concern with the visual presentation of words to the profound interest in epigraphy aroused by the rediscovery of classical inscriptions. This interest was felt mainly by scholars and writers, but it extended to architects, painters, sculptors and designers of monuments - all of whom incorporated inscriptions in their work.

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.

Mary Slusser's work on the history of the art and culture of Nepal is marked by a series of discoveries and critical reassessments that have advanced our comprehension of this extraordinarily rich culture and art in a revolutionary way. In The Antiquity of Nepalese Wood Carving, Dr. Slusser drastically revises our perception of the marvelous wooden sculpture of the Kathmandu Valley. Previously considered to be no earlier than the thirteenth century, the earliest of these wooden masterpieces have now been clearly demonstrated to date from the sixth or seventh century, the time of the Licchavis, lords of Nepal from about 300 to 850. Slusser has used an important scientific tool, radiocarbon dating, to help realign -- and correct -- our overly conservative accepted perceptions of the antiquity of Nepalese wood sculpture. The book is bolstered by the meticulous and painstaking research and documentation that are among the hallmarks of Slusser's works. It is also enriched by her extraordinary photographic archive. Beautiful struts and architectural details that have long been missing from the sites where Slusser first saw them are shown once again in situ in this work, and new photographs, largely the work of Neil Greentree, reveal a wealth of previously unsuspected detail. Also included is an essay by Paul Jett that is both a brief explanation of the science of radiocarbon testing and a validation of the revised dating of Nepalese wood carving proposed in the study.

As we mark the 150th anniversary of Barlach's birth in 2020, the Ernst Barlach Haus in Hamburg pays tribute to the artist with a comprehensive overview of his wood sculptures. Starting with its own collection, the museum elaborately documented all available figures between Lübeck and Zurich with new photographs. This book is the result of this monumental project. It introduces 72 of the 84 extant wood sculptures and includes many fascinating large-format colour plates presenting the statues and their details. Wood held particular importance for Barlach as an artistic material: he regarded it as animate matter. Consequently, woodwork takes centre stage in Barlach's artistic practice - a fact that is often obscured by the large number of mostly posthumous bronze casts of his works. Around 1907, Barlach began to explore the centuries-old medieval art of woodcarving without any prior training. The poor, the homeless, the struggling, invalids, beggars and outlaws: Barlach turned his attention to those pushed to the margins of society and paid tribute to them by placing them at the centre of his art. This book does justice to the reductive character of his forms, which gestures at simplification and a transcendence of time, by highlighting Barlach's contemporary relevance. Text in English and German.

In 1966 Mark Gambier Parry bequeathed to the Courtauld Gallery the art collection formed by his grandfather Thomas Gambier Parry, who died in 1888. In addition to important paintings, Renaissance glass and ceramics, and Islamic metalwork, this included 28 medieval and Renaissance ivories. Since 1967 about half of the ivories have been on permanent display at The Courtauld, yet they have remained largely unknown, even to experts. This catalogue is the first publication dedicated solely to the collection. There are examples of the highest quality of ivory carving, both secular and religious in content, and a number of the objects are of outstanding interest. They are a revealing tribute to the perceptive eye of Thomas Gambier Parry, a distinguished Victorian collector and Gothic Revival artist responsible for a number of richly painted church interiors in England, such as the Eastern part of the nave ceiling, and the octagon, at Ely Cathedral.The earliest objects in date, probably late 11th century, are the group of walrus ivory plaquettes set into the sides and lids of a casket, portraying the Apostles and Christ in Majesty surrounded by the symbols of the Evangelists. The style leaves little doubt that they should be associated with a group of portable altars at Kloster Melk in Austria. A gap of some two centuries separates the casket panels from the next important object - the central portion of an ivory triptych, containing a Deesis group of Christ enthroned between angels holding instruments of the Passion in the upper register, and the Virgin and Child between candle-bearing angels below. The style of the ivory relates it securely to the atelier of the Soissons Diptych in the Victoria & Albert Museum. The Gambier-Parry fragment employs bold cutting of the frame to accentuate the three-dimensional quantities of the relief. Somewhat later in date, towards the middle of the 14th century, is a complete diptych of the Crucifixion and Virgin with angels, the faces of which Gambier-Parry described as worthy of Luini. The extraordinary foreshortening of the swooning Virgin's head can happily be paralleled to a diptych in the Schoolmeesters Collection, Lie'ge, bythe aterlie aux visages caracte'rise's, as named by Raymond Koechlin. The Gambier- Parry diptych, must rank with the finest productions of the workshop.

Specific instructions, photographs, and angle sketches for 24 projects -- from Bolivar Bull through Casper Camel to Sammy Stegosaurus. Only simplest tools and materials used. 94 illustrations. .,."excellent for the beginner."--"National Carvers Museum Review," "Both beginning and experienced woodcarvers will enjoy this book..."--"Workbench."

This volume, the second catalogue of the Wyvern Collection, celebrates an outstanding group of medieval ivory carvings and small sculpture, the finest assemblage of its kind in private hands. The book has pieces from every period of the Middle Ages, including rare examples from the Early Christian era; spectacular panels from the workshops of tenth-century Constantinople; objects produced by the celebrated carvers active in south Italy in the eleventh and twelfth centuries; and several important pieces from the Romanesque period. At the heart of the collection is an outstanding group of Gothic ivories whose highlights include one of the most important secular medieval ivories discovered in recent years. The collection also features a number of small amber, hardstone, jet, wood and mother-of-pearl carvings. In addition to their virtuoso craftsmanship, many of these objects have illustrious histories as part of famous aristocratic or ecclesiastical collections. This is a precious opportunity to study these miniature masterpieces.

Finest book for beginners discusses in direct language and no technical jargon what tools to use, how to use them and what woods are suitable for carving. 34 illustrated designs for creating cabinet panels, chests, doors, bookends, footstools, an ornamental mirror-frame, more.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1875 edition. Excerpt: ...was repaired in the year 1605 by the gentry of the neighbourhood; and an incident like this shows that, notwithstanding the sudden reception of a foreign style, a real admiration of genuine English architecture was not by any means extinct. One gentleman subscribed the sum of 30, a large amount in those days for any such purpose. At the treaty with the Scots in 1641, a gathering of two thousand people sang the 106th Psalm at the cross. It was a curious circumstance that they should select that place for this particular ceremony, as all crosses were proclaimed idolatrous by their preachers. Already many grand old monuments had been senselessly swept away; Abingdon Abbey was destroyed a century before, as were many of its fellows; glorious relics of architecture were heaps of stones, which from that day even to this have served to build barns and granaries. Time has now transformed many a demolished building into a pleasing ruin; then, however, the breaches were recent, and the remains uncovered with moss. But these things did not move them. The intolerant fury against what were called superstitious edifices, which has destroyed so many beautiful monuments of art both in England and Scotland, decreed the destruction of Abingdon Cross, and it was "sawn" down by Waller's army in 1644. Even Richard Symonds, an officer in the Cromwellian army, paid a tribute to its beauty. Coventry Cross was built, it is believed, after the same design as Abingdon; and though the former is also destroyed, we are in possession of abundant documents and drawings to show what it was like. It is later in style than Waltham, and much more florid. Perhaps, indeed, it cannot fairly, considering its date, be compared with that incomparable work of art; but it...

This study of carving the human figure in wood concentrates on the anatomical structure of the body and details specific areas of common difficulty to woodcarvers such as eyes, ears, hands, feet and hair. The book includes step-by-step sequences outlining the techniques involved, as well as providing a range of work that should both stimulate and improve the understanding of the human form.

Creative techniques step-by-step. This book offers the reader an opportunity to watch one of our foremost contemporary sculptors at work, to see not just highlights of the creative process, but every step from beginning to end. In order to recreate the immediacy of an actual workshop situation, Bruno Lucchesi takes a single life-size head through all the stages of roughing in, modeling, refining the surface, and finishing and texturing, so that the reader can see exactly how he positions and models every detail.

Netsuke - classic belt decorations for men - are rooted in a historical, mythological and artistic tradition in Japanese culture. Woodcarvers and their pupils, even counterfeiters, continued the work of their role models, in copies or variants of what came before them, and even created major works of art with the smallest of dimensions. Since the opening up of Japan in 1853, the miniature works have gained appreciation, and enthusiasts are found all over the world. Today netsuke are still being created in a great variety of motifs. Netsuke in Comparison presents one hundred netsuke from a private collection. For the very first time, it endeavours to juxtapose them with comparative images from collections and literature in order to locate them within this genre and to convey something of their diversity and expressiveness. Text in English and German.

The appearance during the first millennium A.D. of small, exquisitely carved artifacts of walrus ivory in the Bering Strait region marks the beginning of an extraordinary florescence in the art and culture of North America. The discovery in the 1930s and 1940s of world-class carvings of animals, mythical beasts, shape-shifting creatures, masks, and human figurines astounded scholars and excited collectors. Nevertheless, the extraordinary objects that belong to this fascinating, sometimes frightening, world of hunting-related art remain largely unknown. Gifts from the Ancestors examines ancient ivories from the coast of Bering Strait, western Alaska, and the islands in between-illuminating their sophisticated formal aesthetic, cultural complexity, and individual histories. Many of the pieces discussed are from recent Russian excavations and are presented here for the first time in English; others are from private collections not usually open to the public. The essays, written by an international group of scholars, adopt a refreshing interdisciplinary approach that gives voice to the various competing, and now sometimes cooperating, stakeholders, including Native groups, museums, archaeologists, art historians, art dealers, and private collectors. Distributed for the Princeton University Art Museum Exhibition Schedule: Princeton University Art Museum (October 3, 2009 - January 10, 2010)

"With this new edition of Ice Carving Made Easy, Second Edition, Joe Amendola shares with all present and future ice carvers the resurgence of this historic art form. This book will guide and inspire thousands of chefs and artists to enjoy the artistic fulfillment, professionalism, and camaraderie of the exciting art of ice carving." —Larry Malchick, President, National Ice Carving Association "The information on the history, tools and accessories, different methods, types of ice blocks, and the safety and precautionary measures in ice carving will be of tremendous help to many young enthusiasts in their goal to become professional ice sculptors." —Hiroshi Noguchi, C.E.C., A.A.C., Executive Chef, Stouffer Orlando Resort Here is the first new American ice carving manual to be released in ten years! Written by a culinary master, Joe Amendola, it addresses current developments in the field of ice carving. It emphasizes American and European subjects and designs in an attempt to offset the exclusivity of oriental designs in available Japanese books. The organization of Ice Carving Made Easy, Second Edition allows for carvers of every proficiency to use the book with success—each stage of creating a carving is discussed, from manufacturing of ice to the final presentation. Such introductory topics as the handling of ice, hand and power tools, and templates are described in as much detail and given as much attention as the more complex sections about carving faces, fusing, and developing multiple block sculptures. Each of the 34 ice sculptures that Amendola presents is supported by step-by-step instructions that allow the novice and expert alike to create show-pieces that will add a special touch to banquets, buffets, and special events.

Jacobo Castellano, (Jaen, 1976), is one of the most complex and solid contemporary Spanish artists. He uses engraving to create a body of work based on the emotions and sensations that are hidden in his personal memory. In his work he uses elements such as curtains, wire, small piggy banks, coffins or those rhombuses that were placed on the top of the TV screen. These elements are superimposed creating structures that seem to be on the verge of collapse and that seem to want to hide something or point to a place to hide and protect themselves from imminent collapse. The work of Jacobo Castellano follows a defined line in which the recovery of remembrances stored in his memory leads to a deep reflection on essential issues such as identity, or life and death. Numerous collections of contemporary art have their production, like ARTIUM. Basque Center-Museum of Contemporary Art; CAAC. Andalusian Center for Contemporary Art; CGAC. Galician Center of Contemporary Art; Montenmedio Contemporary Art Foundation; or the Rafael Boti Provincial Plastic Arts Foundation, among others. Contents: Rincones polvorientos de la vida / Life's Dusty Corners, by Javier Hontoria El juego sin fin (notas de un coleccionista / The Endless Game (Notes of a Collector) by Luis Caballero Martinez Conversation with Joao Mourao and Luis Silva Text in English and Spanish.

"Feeding the Ancestors" presents an exquisite group of carved spoons from the Pacific Northwest that resides in the collections of Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Carved from the horns of mountain goats and Dall sheep, and incorporating elements of abalone shell and metal, most of the spoons were collected in Alaska in the late nineteenth century and were made and used by members of the Tlingit tribe. Hillel Burger's beautiful color photographs reveal every nuance of the carvers' extraordinary artistry.

Anne-Marie Victor-Howe introduces the collectors and describes the means by which these and other ethnographic objects were acquired. In the process, she paints a vivid picture of the "Last Frontier" just before and shortly after the United States purchased Alaska. A specialist in the ethnography of the Native peoples of the Northwest Coast, Victor-Howe provides a fascinating glimpse into these aboriginal subsistence cultures as she explains the manufacture and function of traditional spoons. Her accounts of the clan stories associated with specific carvings and of the traditional shamanic uses of spoons are the result of extensive consultation with Tlingit elders, scholars, and carvers.

"Feeding the Ancestors" is the first scholarly study of traditional feast spoons and a valuable contribution to our knowledge of Pacific Northwest Coast peoples and their art.