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| 17th Century Style Woodcarving |
Woodcarving inspired by the style
of the 17th century
Acanthus leaf design carved in walnut
In this modest project I will introduce you to the
method and technique for carving an acanthus leaf design for the 4 corners of
the supporting or constructive part of a Danzig baroque cabinet.
During the baroque a piece of furniture had to look luxuriant
and rich in detail. With its robust yet elegant curls, the acanthus leaf is extremely
suitable to radiate that luxuriant and rich feel, which makes it a design that
is characteristic for this period.
Often they would use various types of wood as well as
a variety of decorative techniques such as inlay, sculpting, gold leaf, etc.
These techniques were used on one and the same piece of furniture to create that
overwhelming sensation of richness. But the personality of a piece of furniture
mainly came from the baroque woodcarving.
The symmetrical and crossed acanthus leaf design still
tends to be the eye-catcher; a simple yet effective solution for limited space
on the piece of furniture.
In its most basic form, a panel consists of a frame, a
constructive part and the filling. An architectural frame is inlayed into the
constructive part, to create a luxuriant effect and to add depth to the piece,
which is another typical characteristic of the baroque period.
The panel is
completed with the inlay of a symmetrical composition executed in walnut, rosewood
and coromandel wood.
The concerning panel is destined for a so called
Danzig baroque cabinet or “Danziger”.
A Danzig baroque cabinet is a typically
regional 17th century piece of furniture, which (as you can tell by its name)
originated from the region in and around the north German city of Danzig (currently
the Polish Gdansk).
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| 17th Century Style Woodcarving , Acanthus leaf design |
Baroque
The 17th century is an era that is marked by a great
number of changes that took place throughout Europe: exploratory expeditions, rediscovery
of Greek and Roman art and science.
The architecture of these two peoples came back into
fashion, giving rise to a new style: baroque. Baroque stretches from the middle
of the 17th century to the first half of the 18th century. Baroque wasn’t just
limited to architecture alone.
Quite the contrary! Sculpture, furniture,
ornamentation and music were all influenced as well.
Early baroque found its origin in Italy, more
specifically in Rome, and slowly started to fan out to northern Europe. It’s
interesting to see that the style developed differently in different areas,
according to the temperament of the inhabitants of a certain region, and due to
the influences of artists and tradesmen.
These differences in style are specifically noticeable
in the ornamentation.
A distinction is made between early, high and late
baroque. Late baroque is also known as rococo.
Early baroque still inclined towards the renaissance, whereas
late baroque overindulged in luxuriance, with much pomp and circumstance.
Over time many rulers discovered the effects of the
dramatic baroque style; we see it used by the Vatican during the Counter
Reformation. By putting the emphasis on splendor and magnificence in the
architectural style of churches, the Roman Catholic Church was trying to
impress people and lure them back to church.
This, however, caused a breach within the Roman
Catholic Church: Protestantism was born, leading to austerity in protestant
countries.
One of the developments of the baroque period is that
pieces of furniture display less and less architectural characteristics. They
no longer resemble miniaturized constructions; there’s a tendency to use more exotic
types of wood, rather than local types of wood; and other materials are
applied, such as brass, tin and tortoise.
The use of exotic wood (ebony, palisander, acajou) coincides
with the expeditions made to East and West India.
The fact that people at this time are more self-assured
and start acting as individuals, who tend to make their own choices (notably
among artists and tradesmen), leads to a decline in the use of traditional
materials and to the creation of completely new furniture.
The upper class, that is growing ever richer, wants to
flaunt its wealth. The result of this is that we now have an amazing collection
of furniture from this period in our patrimony.
The carving of a stylized
acanthus leaf design in walnut
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| Acanthus leaf design carved in walnut |
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| Baroque Cabinet from DANZIG |
