Chris Pye: Woodcarving
Recommended Books

Oak Furniture - The British Tradition
By Victor Chinnery

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I was introduced to this recently when I was involved in carving the coat of arms of Henry VII into a huge, oak, fireplace lintel in a restored Tudor building. We needed 'something to go on either side'. I was still drooling over the illustrations a long after...

I now know this to be THE work on this rich period of British furniture and its decorative carving, which flourished really until the importing of milder tropical woods from 'the colonies' and changes in style that such material allowed.
This is a big, scholarly book which illustrates the economic and social context of the furniture and carving, as well the use and qualities of the timber itself. From our point of view as woodcarvers, it is the photographs which are so alluring.

In black and white, we see details of furniture which has survived, rich with the patination of time; the very 'black and whiteness' allows us to dwell lovingly on the lights and shadows of the carvings.
You can almost feel the carvers, and the hands which have touched these carvings down the centuries.

The few colour plates gives the lie to furniture being monochrome, with surprising use of bright colours in the backgrounds.

Look at this boarded box from the mid-seventeenth century.
If you are looking for furniture designs to resurrect and develop - there's a fantastic source of opportunity here...

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