Woodcarving
Figures and ornaments are carved into wood with sharp chisels and knives; the softer the wood the easier it is. Wood carvings can be decorations in relief as well as fully three-dimensional objects.
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Donors, friends and guests with a privilege pass may book a single or multiple time slots here
Donors, friends and guests with a privilege pass may book a single or multiple time slots here
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen’s collection shows the numerous possibilities afforded by wood. It contains examples of objects made using a wide range of woodworking techniques.
Figures and ornaments are carved into wood with sharp chisels and knives; the softer the wood the easier it is. Wood carvings can be decorations in relief as well as fully three-dimensional objects.
A design is carved into a solid piece of wood. The design is then filled with a flat piece of another type of wood of a different colour. Wood can also be inlaid with other materials, such as ivory, bone, mother-of-pearl and metal.
A solid piece of wood is decorated with precisely aligned pieces of veneer - extremely thin wood - so that the entire surface is covered. The layers are laid on top of one another and sawn together to achieve the best possible fit.
A block of wood or a thick post is mounted horizontally in a lathe. Round shapes can be made with a sharp chisel by turning this piece of wood extremely quickly. In the past this was done by hand but nowadays lathes are electric-powered. The longer the chisel is pressed against the wood, the more wood is removed. This is how the turned feet for furniture are made.