[Rarebooks] fs: Interesting 1835 Wood Sculpture study

[Joslin Hall Rare Books]

 From our Books on Furniture pages-
<http://www.joslinhall.com/furntp.htm>


Williams, Robert Folkstone. AN 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

Picture-
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