Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/689

WOOD-CARVING 649 are covered with grand scroll-work, with the most graceful lines and extreme decorative vigour. Fig. 7 shows a fine example of the treatment of a large panel in the front of the stalls at Ulm cathedral, carved in unusually high relief FIG. f>. The Centre of a Wooden Triptych, attributed to Veit Stoss, now in the South Kensington Museum. with bold conventional foliage, full of spirit and vigorous beauty. These splendid stalls were executed in 1468 by Jo rg Syrlin. During this period the wood-carving of Germany occupied a foremost position in the world, and Fin. 7. Carved Panel from the Front of the Stalls in Ulm Cathedral. in many places, such as Nuremberg and parts of Bavaria, great technical skill has survived down to the present time. Switzerland and Tyrol have also been for long cele brated for delicate wood-carving on a small scale. The cleverly executed figures of peasants and of animals, especially the chamois, are widely popular, and their pro duction gives occupation to a large class of able artisans, who, however, rarely rise to the level of original artists, though they attain a fairly high average of excellence. Mohammedan. Nothing can exceed the skill with which the Moslem wood-carvers of Persia, Syria, Egypt, and Spain designed and executed the richest panelling and other decorations for wall-lining, ceilings, pulpits, and all kinds of fittings and furniture. The mosques and private houses of Cairo, Damascus, and other Oriental cities are full of the most elaborate and minutely delicate wood-work. A favourite style of ornament was to cover the surface with very intricate interlacing patterns, formed by delicately moulded ribs ; the various geometrical spaces between the ribs were then filled in with small pieces of wood with carved foliage in slight relief. The use of different woods, such as ebony or box, inlaid so as to emphasize the design, combined with the ingenious richness of the patterns, give this class of wood-work an almost unrivalled .splendour of effect. Carved ivory is also often used for the filling in of the flat spaces. Fig. 8 shows a fine example of this sort of work, dating from the 14th century, part of a wall-lining in the Alhambra ; special FIG. 8. Example of Moslem Wood-Panelling, with inlay of different woods. skill is shown by the way in which the Moslem carver has adapted his design to his material avoiding curved lines, and utilizing woods which he could only get in small pieces. Another very elaborate class of Oriental wood work is the rich ceilings and domes built up of small pieces of wood into the ingeniously intricate "stalactite " patterns, which were then covered with stucco and decorated with rich painting in gold and colours. In the early mediaeval period very elaborate wood-work for screens and other fittings was produced for the Coptic churches of Egypt by native Christian workmen ; some of these had small panels carved in a hard dark wood, with saints and Bible subjects in low relief, very Byzantine in style. The British Museum possesses some fine examples of this carved work from a church in Old Cairo. These early wood fittings are now rapidly disappearing. 1 Asiatic. In India wood-carving of the most magnificent kind has been constantly produced for many centuries. The ancient Hindu temples were decorated with doors, ceilings, and other fittings, carved in sandal and other 1 See Butler, Coptic Churches of Egypt, Oxford, 1884.

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