Wood Carving
As one of the oldest types of art, woodcarving is common in all cultures from the Stone Age onwards. It is known for its widespread availability and low cost. The only true drawback as a medium for woodcarving is that it is extremely perishable. Being porous with water and vulnerable to fungi and insects, it degrades quite hastily. As a result, bronze, marble, and other types of stone have been preferred for monumental works. Wood was a principal in Africa sculpture to produce masks, statuettes, religious objects, and decorates.
This medium was also vastly used in Oceanic art for the carving of ceremonial canoes and other objects, like the totem pole culture of American Indian art. Unfortunate as it is, this type of tribal art has perished. Wood carving was also extremely common in Greek sculpture, but much less prestigious than the great ivory carving routine. This medium flourished especially in European eras in cathedrals, churches, and sooner or later fine furniture and interior decoration. In the 20th century, folk art continued to depend on this medium for expression of their stories and folklores.
Paleolithic art and culture is stuffed with examples of prehistoric sculpture, especially its Venus figurines made from a variety of ivory, animal bone, and rock. There was no doubt that wood was also widely used in this time, it just has not survived long enough to tell. The fact that the Shigir Idol, a masterpiece in Mesolithic art, is nothing but a miracle. Wood was in great widespread use throughout several ancient civilizations, mainly in Japanese art. Mesopotamian and Egyptian art is also known for the medium as well. The use of wood as a primary material quickly declined in the Archaic Greek sculpture. By the time of Early Classical Greek sculpture (c. 480-450), the art of this wood carving was strictly left to small-scale works. In Korea and China, jade carving was the talk-of-the-town and the most prestigious type of carving.
Shigir Idol (Mesolithic Sculpture)
(7500 BCE)
Looking at these prehistoric and early civilizations work with this material, it is self-evident that there is a presence of innovation and intelligence behind the works. Although wood was not seen as the most desirable art medium, they did not fail to make the most out of it until its eventual perish. Because of the issue in preservation, we were not able to witness many magnificent beauties behind the art. It is unfortunate, but with the ones available to us now, we are still provided with a great deal of knowledge and indulgent of how these past sculptors saw the idea of art and its representation.
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