[Rarebooks] fs: 1835 Study of Wood Carving & Sculpture

[Joslin Hall Rare Books, ABAA]

Williams, Robert Folkstone. A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ART OF SCULPTURE IN
WOOD, FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT TIME; with notices of the
most remarkable sculptural works in the same material now remaining in
Europe, and some Account of the Designers.

London; published at the Library of the Fine Arts: 1835.

"The savage who tattoos his flesh, is a painter -the barbarian who
ornaments his club with carvings, is a sculptor -the Indian who constructs
his wigwam in the forest, is an architect -the cannibal who sings in
triumph while his enemy is burning at the stake, is a musician -and all
are artists."

The author came from an architectural background and approached his
subject with the eye of the architectural historian, treating not only
sculpture but also all other types of decorative carving to be found in
churches, cathedrals and the great houses. Mantlepieces, railings, even
furniture fascinated him, and he treated all as more or less equal
products of the chisel. Williams begins his essay in the dim ages of
antiquity before exploring the woodcarver's art in Europe and England from
the early times through the 17th and 18th centuries. He spends most of his
time in England and Italy, although France and Germany are certainly not
neglected. He then returns to the far east and ancient times in an
appendix. Williams is nothing if not forthright, with an eye for the odd-

"There are many bas-reliefs, particularly those carved underneath the
seats of the choirs of different religious structures, that represent
grotesque , and even obscene subjects, altogether at variance with the
sacred character of the buildings in which they are placed. Something of
this kind may be observed in Worcester cathedral, in Ely cathedral, in the
priory church of Great Malvern, and in many other ecclesiastical edifices.
What may be thought most singular, is, that these sculptures sometimes
represent priests and other religious persons, engaged in actions of a
very profane description. For a satisfactory reason for this, I am
indebted to my friend, Mr. Cottingham. The sculptors who executed those
carvings were the caricaturists of the time; and, as different religious
communities were frequently at variance with each other, they employed
these artists to satirize their mutual follies and vices. Under their
seats they concealed from the public eye, but exposed for their own
private gratification, a series of pictorial libels. In one place, the
monks of a certain order are represented as licentious, ridiculous, and
depraved: -in the building belonging to these holy fathers, will,
probably, be found a similar series of bas-reliefs, exposing the secret
debaucheries of the sacred brotherhood by whom they have been libelled-
but never, in any church, will a priest of that order be represented in an
unholy character. He will very likely be discovered thus pictured in the
church of the Franciscan, while the follower of St. Francis receives the
same treatment from the Carthusian brethren in their own buildings. The
various monastic establishments, which at one time were exceedingly
numerous in England, generally regarded each other with considerable
jealousy; and, more than once, their animosities and squabbles have
disturbed the peace of the kingdom, and brought disgrace upon the
un-reformed religion. This occasioned some of our most ancient
ecclesiastical edifices to be disfigured with grotesque and offensive
designs".

In the end, this is an early budding of that appreciation of the
woodcarver's art which would flower in the latter decades of the Victorian
era as antiquaries began to prowl around churches, producing learned tomes
on their carvings and woodwork. Williams' essay may be seen as the opening
shot in their campaign. OCLC locates 15 copies, but the title seems to be
scarcer in the marketplace than that might suggest. Hardcover. 5.5"x8", 96
pages, original "satined" cloth covers recased with a new spine and new
endpapers; contents with some moderate foxing. [05255] $250.00


More Books on SCULPTURE-
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