Page:Letters from New Zealand (Harper).djvu/381

Rh work on the capitals of the columns which support the inner arches of the lancet windows, and of the shafts which rise to meet the principal ribs of the roof, and the corbels on which the hood mouldings of the arches and doorways rest. The carver has to work on square blocks of stone placed in position. He does not work them out on the bench. Standing on a platform, he has to do his work than and there, trusting to his skill not to make a mistake, for the stone is a fixture. With scarcely any design beyond a slight sketch on tracing paper, he makes a few rough charcoal marks on the stone, and then goes to work with chisel and mallet. A competent artist can be left to himself to produce first-rate work. The Early English carving is chiefly of foliage and flowers, with some figures and heads, not a literal representation of nature, but in conventional style. In later styles of architecture the carver sought to reproduce the exact forms of fruit or flower as seen in nature, but with indifferent success in such a material as stone. Moreover, the conventional style gives the artist a freer hand and more scope for his own inventiveness. It was worth seeing the way in which the stone under his hand gradually grew into lovely shape, every capital and corbel with its own distinctive beauty. "Do you find that visitors take an interest in your work?" "Yes," he replied, "much more so than a few years ago, especially since wood-carving has come into fashion as an amateur amusement, people come in and appreciate the 'undercutting' and delicacy of the work. They've handled carving tools a little themselves, and the spread of Art Education has trained their eyes to see good work." He was quite an enthusiast in his line, and told me that to his great