February, 1917 
21 
WM&mar 
© Frank Cousins 
Mclntire's xvork is also 
found in the Pierce-iNich- 
ols house at Salem. Both 
the VI an tel and over-man¬ 
tel bear delicate carving 
Even the window trim 
and the chair rail in the 
Pierce-Nichols house 
were ornamented. Mcln¬ 
tire's designs were alivags 
simple but adequate 
In the center below is 
shown an elaborately 
carved door trim and. 
over-door panel in the 
Queen Anne-Early Geor¬ 
gian mode 
An example of Adam 
carving as expressed by 
early American architects 
is found in the mantel of 
the Octagon house. Wash¬ 
ington. D. C. 
surrounding background that has been 
lowered by gouge and chisel. Whether the 
carved device is in low relief or of ])rom- 
inent prolile, the carving conies technically 
under this heading. Near of kin to 
“modelled” carving—indeed it may be said 
to be only a further development of it—is 
“carving in the round that is to say, carv¬ 
ing in which the objects depicted, cleanly 
undercut, stand forth well from their 
ground or else stand altogether clear of it, 
being supported by some suitable projection 
from the rear, from below or from above. 
Excellent examples of carving in the round 
are to be seen in finials or pendants of any 
sort. “Flat” carving exhibits what might 
be called a silhouette design whose flat sur¬ 
face is flush with the uncarved surface of 
the piece of wood on which it is wrought. 
The necessary relief is secured by a “sunk” 
background, that is to say a sharply incised 
or abruptly gouged-out 
groundwork, a n d the 
edges of the figures com¬ 
posing the design are not 
rounded off or modified 
in any way, but are left 
sharp a n d rectangular. 
“Scratch” carving is just 
the reverse of the forms 
of carving more com¬ 
monly practised, in that 
the design, usually of the 
sim])lest possible charac¬ 
ter, is vigorously and 
sharply incised into the 
wood and, as a matter of 
fact, does little more than 
supply mere outlines. 
Rivaling English 
Works 
glance backward to 
see what our predeces¬ 
sors have done in the 
field of interior wood 
carving will point the 
way to \v hat we our- 
{Continued on page 74) 
efforts of a cockerel just learning to crow. 
A good many of us are disposed to be 
timid about carving or even hostile towards 
it on general principles because the memory 
of the hideous golden oak of the ’80’s is 
too fresh in our minds and because there 
are still with us too many substantial and 
visible reminders of the misdirected energy 
of that benighted period. And for that very 
reason, for that very hostility, the iniquities 
of this meretricious style of wood carving 
have been dwelt upon at length that the 
utter badness of it might be ])lainly manifest 
and that it might serve as a basis of com¬ 
parison when we discuss the carving 
achievements of other periods, achievements 
that are well calculated to disarm adverse 
criticism born of present prejudice or dis¬ 
tasteful recollection. 
Before attempting to discuss several of 
the most desirable varieties of interior 
wood carving of which 
we may readily avail 
ourselves for the em¬ 
bellishment of sue h 
styles of houses as we 
generally build, it is 
necessary to give some 
explanations and defini¬ 
tions of terms we shall 
be obliged to employ in 
order to gain accurate 
ideas of what we are dis¬ 
cussing. Here are some 
of the most important. 
Carving Methods 
In the coui'se of ex¬ 
amining the phases of 
wood carving that most 
nearly concern us we 
shall have occasion to 
speak of the following 
ways of manipulating 
the material. We first 
have “modelled” carving 
which shows the design 
standing forth in well 
moulded relief from a 
