A little history on the hand carving of French furniture
A little history on the hand carving of French furniture
Wood carving is a form of working wood by means of a cutting tool held in the hand, resulting in a multitude of objects such as figurines, sculptures or furniture to name just a few.
Some of the finest extant examples of early wood carving date back from the middle Ages in Italy and France, where the typical themes of that era were Christian iconography. In England many complete examples remain from the 16th and 17th century, where oak was the preferred medium in this case.
Nowadays with a growing interest in interior design and the changing trends in furniture and home furnishings, there is a greater demand for French style carved furniture in an array of designs and finishes. For this reason this massively growing industry has developed two fold in countries such as China, Vietnam and Indonesia where their ancient skills in craftsmanship has been developed and moulded to cater for this growing trend in reproduction French furniture.
When visiting these countries and locating the source of these craftsmen you would be forgiving for thinking that in this era they would be working in large factories with machines and equipment of the modern age designed to make the whole process a lot quicker and although this maybe the case in some instances, the reality is; the ancient art form of hand carving using cutting tools of their ancestors is still very much a reality. You will find in some of the countries manufacturing this furniture, communities working from their own homes each responsible for crafting just one product repeatedly. Most of the family members from communities such as this would have grown up with the skill of carving and it will have been instilled into them from a very young age, it is therefore a natural progression that generations after generations take on this truly unique and timeless skill that allows them to recreate the stunning carved detail of centuries past and develop some of the finest pieces of French furniture seen to date.
So when purchasing your next or first piece of French furniture you can rest assured that you own a unique piece that has been hand crafted with care and attention from people that really know how its done.