I said, early in this essay, that hand-work might always be known from
machine-work; observing, however, at the same time, that it was possible
for men to turn themselves into machines, and to reduce their labor to
the machine level; but so long as men work _as_ men, putting their heart
into what they do, and doing their best, it matters not how bad workmen
they may be, there will be that in the handling which is above all
price: it will be plainly seen that some places have been delighted in
more than others--that there has been a pause, and a care about them;
and then there will come careless bits, and fast bits; and here the
chisel will have struck hard, and there lightly, and anon timidly; and
if the man's mind as well as his heart went with his work, all this will
be in the right places, and each part will set off the other; and the
effect of the whole, as compared with the same design cut by a machine
or a lifeless hand, will be like that of poetry well read and deeply
felt to that of the same verses jangled by rote. There are many to whom
the difference is imperceptible; but to those who love poetry it is
everything--they had rather not hear it at all, than hear it ill read;
and to those who love Architecture, the life and accent of the hand are
everything. They had rather not have ornament at all, than see it ill
cut--deadly cut, that is. I cannot too often repeat, it is not coarse
cutting, it is not blunt cutting, that is necessarily bad; but it is
cold cutting--the look of equal trouble everywhere--the smooth, diffused
tranquillity of heartless pains--the regularity of a plough in a level
field. The chill is more likely, indeed, to show itself in finished work
than in any other--men cool and tire as they complete: and if
completeness is thought to be vested in polish, and to be attainable by
help of sand paper, we may as well give the work to the engine-lathe at
once. But _right_ finish is simply the full rendering of the intended
impression; and _high_ finish is the rendering of a well intended and
vivid impression; and it is oftener got by rough than fine handling. I
am not sure whether it is frequently enough observed that sculpture is
not the mere cutting of the _form_ of anything in stone; it is the
cutting of the _effect_ of it. Very often the true form, in the marble,
would not be in the least like itself. The sculptor must paint with his
chisel: half his touches are not to realize, but to put power into the
form: they are touches of light and shadow; and raise a ridge, or sink a
hollow, not to represent an actual ridge or hollow, but to get a line of
light, or a spot of darkness. In a coarse way, this kind of execution is
very marked in old French woodwork; the irises of the eyes of its
chimeric monsters being cut boldly into holes, which, variously placed,
and always dark, give all kinds of strange and startling expressions,
averted and askance, to the fantastic countenances. Perhaps the highest
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account