SOME WONDERS IN WOOD

Since time immemorial Man has been fashioning wood into artistic objects. The achievements of Native American, Chinese, Hindu and Islamic woodworkers have been immense, and despite rot, damp, drought and fire, many examples have survived. In this huge field I wanted to highlight examples I have seen or with which I make a connection. Wooden artefacts bring such simple and accessible pleasure.

In Greece most Orthodox churches have an iconostasis or reredos, a decorative screen behind the altar containing cherished icons. A particularly fine one in golden gilded wood was to be seen in Agia Matronna, Karlovasi on our beloved island of Samos, following a widely adopted Byzantine tradition.

Iconostasis at Basilica of the Nativity, Bethlehem

The Gothic age in Europe brought prominence to master wood-carvers and one of the most famous was the German Tilman Riemenschneider (1460-1531).

Altar of the Holy Blood, Rothenburg ob den Tauber

        

This altar is in the Lutheran St Jakob’s church in Rothenburg, the enchanting Franconian town kept in the 17^th century style, our favourite stopover in South Germany.

Viet Stoss Altar, St Mary's, Krakow, Poland

The other German master was Viet Stoss whose fine altar in Krakow is a national treasure. But the Renaissance insinuated itself and ecclesiastic patronage gave way to the secular.

The name to conjure with for late Stuart and early Hanoverian monarchs and aristocrats was Anglo-Dutch Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721). He could sculpt of course in stone and his swags adorn the walls of St Paul’s Cathedral in London and in some City of London churches. His pièce de résistance is his wood carving at Petworth House, executed for the Earl of Egremont.

Grinling Gibbons, The Carved Room at Petworth

Grinling Gibbons’ expertise was widely admired and his smaller carvings gave much pleasure.

Limewood panel of Musical Instruments by Grinling Gibbons

                             

A specifically English innovation was the art of wood engraving where an artist carves his image onto the dense end-grain of a block of wood, inks it and applies modest pressure to print his picture. The pioneer of this technique was Thomas Bewick (1753-1826) who produced his monumental History of British Birds (1797 – 1804) containing bird pictures and “tail pieces” depicting rustic scenes.

The Sparrow-Hawk by Bewick

Bewick's tail-piece Shooting from a Hide

This wood-engraving technique was used for the striking illustrations by Gustave Doré of Don Quixote in 1863 and Gibbons’ wood-carving genius was emulated by the Victorian William Gibbs Rogers, whose splendid decoration of St Mary-at-Hill, Lovat Lane in the City I much enjoyed (guided by Betjeman), staircases, swags, pews and pulpit, though most was sadly destroyed by a fire in 1988.

In the 20^th century many English artists worked in wood notably Clifford Webb, Eric Gill and John and Paul Nash. We were flattered by the American modernist and abstract artist, Louise Nevelson, of Russian extraction, who presented in 1964, her An American Tribute to the British People in sumptuous gold-coloured wood;

An American Tribute to the British People by Louise Nevelson

Such a generous tribute is a rarity these days!

SMD

8.02.19

Text Copyright© Sidney Donald 2019