The Carver's Art by Bronner Simon J.;

Author:Bronner, Simon J.; [Bronner Simon J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Published: 2021-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Viewers handling a carved fan, East Lansing, Michigan

I have seen a few persons take no notice of chains or assume that the carver was just “wasting his time.” Yet those instances have been rare. With little encouragement, most visitors to my house have zeroed in on my hanging chains, have handled them and have asked me how they are made and why. Free to touch, the viewer handles the object as a technical and intellectual curiosity. The chain is, indeed, riddled with meaning.

The drama between viewer and maker mediated by the object drew the attention of Nathaniel Hawthrone in his short story, Drowne’s Wooden Image. Drowne was the woodcarver, and Hawthorne had none other than renowned real-life painter John Singleton Copley looking over Drowne’s work. Copley came upon a special object, a half-finished figure, which caused him to exclaim,

“What is here? Who has done this?” he broke out, after contemplating it in speechless astonishment for an instant. “Here is the divine, the life-giving touch. What inspired hand is beckoning this wood to arise and live. Whose work is this?”

“No man’s work,” replied Drowne. “The figure lies within that block of oak, and it is my business to find it.”

“Drowne,” said the true artist, grasping the carver fervently by the hand, “You are a man of genius.”

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