How To Recognize Original, Hand-Made Wood Sculpture

Imagine this: you are in a quaint little shop somewhere in the mountains or at the beach, on vacation. You have been admiring a group of nice-looking wood figures on the shelf there, thinking about how nice one of them might look in your home. You know, right there in the living room near the fireplace, maybe even on the mantle!

Yes indeed, this could be the right wood carving for your home. It looks good, it's of a figure that interests you, and it sure seems like a bargain. Is it an original woodcarving? Well, it MUST be, as this is the kind of art store that seems to sell neat-looking originals, right? Let's look a bit closer, and learn about this woodcarving and the millions just like it all over the world.

Original vs. Reproduction Wood Carvings: The Age-Old Argument.

So this might be a reproduction, so what? Well, that is really a good point....if you don't much care about the issue, then it probably will not be a big deal to you. However, if you DO care about the issue of Original vs. Reproductions, then to YOU it is essential to have an original piece of woodcarving whenever you have the 'choice'.

After all, original wood carving, signed by the artist, is a joy and privilege to own. You know that it is a true one-of-a-kind. This is true even though the artist may have made other pieces in the same theme or style. You know that you will never see another one just like yours. You also know that, as an original, this piece was hand-made from start to finish. The artist took the time (often too much time) to add every detail, make every stroke personally, and perform each step in the creation process. There is not, and never will be an exact copy of your woodcarving.

On the other hand, we all know the limitations of reproductions. If you buy one for a special place in your home, you will never look at it the same way as you could an original woodcarving. You know there are hundreds elsewhere. You know that it was stamped out of a mill somewhere on a big machine. You also know that it is one in a million, not one of a kind.

A Bit Caustic?

Now all this rhetoric may seem a bit harsh to some, but it really is how I feel about art; wood carving in particular. I have seen lots of artists attempt to make the copies as 'original' as possible, by using tricks of the trade. Sometimes they will have originals copied, and then the artist will dab on touches of paint, thereby justifying the high prices he demands.

I've seen this in wood carving also. There is a process by which an original woodcarving is created over a long time; very ornate. A bronze cast of it is made, and then used to act as a template for creating hundreds of others, in wood, and then painted. Frankly they can be fabulous wood carvings!

Source : Ezinearticles