[Woodcarver] woodcarving history...

[sally nye]

Thanks for replying Maricha.  It certainly is thought provoking to view 
such museum pieces.  We did our best to question the museum staff.  The 
only english word they know is "no" along with a shoulder shrug.  Of 
course all display explanations are in French as well.  There are 
explanations posted by the entryway to each room that are in various 
languages but they are very general descriptions of what that room is 
all about.

I thought maybe someone on this list could offer an opinion. LOL, I 
guess they're not that old.
Thanks
Sally
http://www.fancarversworld.com

On Jan 5, 2005, at 2:11 AM, maricha wrote:
wow sally
wonderful of you to share the carvings that you have seen in paris.  
the tools must have been supermicroscopic. i wonder how many hours it 
took them to do one bead, let alone the entire carving. quite 
interesting work to provoke a lot of thought and discussions/and or 
opinions.
thanks for sharing.

cheers
maricha

> Recently we visited 2 museums in Paris:  The Louve and The Medieval 
> Museum.  There were very intricately done woodcarvings dating to the 
> 16th century and before.  Of course the medieval museum had the wooden 
> combs, ear pics etc. with stories carved in the handles.  The carvings 
> were so small & intricate you could barely see the detail with the 
> naked eye.  The delicate work was incredible.
>
> The Louve had beads (for prayer) that were about 1/2-inch in diameter. 
> The beads were on a string and totaled 10, some had 12.  Each bead had 
> a line carved around the circumference.  The top portion as well as 
> the bottom portion was then segmented into triangles, like a geometric 
> ball. Story scenes were carved on these beads.  Each triangle was a 
> complete scene.  One of the triangles was of the "Last Supper" with 
> complete facial details and expression.  It was dated around 1503.
>
> Some of the very old European castles have these types of carvings as 
> well.  What type of tools did the very early carvers have for them to 
> do this kind of work?  Also, did they have something comparable to our 
> magnifying glass?