Great Book of Spoon Carving Patterns E-Book

David Western

• Herausgeber: Fox Chapel Publishing
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Seitenzahl: 109

Beschreibung

Learn the traditional, hidden language of carving romance spoons to express your one-of-a-kind love! Perfect for carvers of any skill level, this complete guide features 5 bowl patterns and 75 original handle patterns to mix and match for hundreds of customizable carving designs. Whether you want to ask for a first date or carve a wedding spoon, this book includes information on the origins of each romantic wooden spoon design and what they symbolize! Author David Western is an industry expert in the art of lovespoon carving, and his passion will inspire both beginner and intermediate carvers to enjoy the charm and satisfaction of this historic craft.

Leseprobe

© 2021 by David Western and Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc., 903 Square Street, Mount Joy, PA 17552.

Great Book of Spoon Carving Patterns is an original work, first published in 2021 by Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc. The patterns contained herein are copyrighted by the author. Readers may make copies of these patterns for personal use. The patterns themselves, however, are not to be duplicated for resale or distribution under any circumstances. Any such copying is a violation of copyright law.

Photography © Chris Roberts, Victoria BC Canada Supplemental Photography © Fox Chapel Publishing by Mike Mihalo

Print ISBN 978-1-4971-0151-7eISBN 978-1-6076-5880-1

To learn more about the other great books from Fox Chapel Publishing, or to find a retailer near you, call toll-free 800-457-9112 or visit us at www.FoxChapelPublishing.com.

We are always looking for talented authors. To submit an idea, please send a brief inquiry to [email protected].

For a printable PDF of the patterns used in this book, please contact Fox Chapel Publishing at [email protected], with 9781497101517 and Great Book of Spoon Carving Patterns in the subject line.

Contents

Introduction

PART 1:Getting Started in Spoon Carving

What Is Romantic Spoon Carving?

Parts of a Spoon

Woods

Tools

Finishing

Basic Cuts

Carving Safety

Step-by-Step Guide to Carving a Basic Spoon

How to Customize Your Spoons

Guide to Motifs and Symbols

PART 2:The Patterns

Resources

About the Author

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Spoons are more than just functional utensils that you use and then toss into the dishwasher. If you’ve never heard of decorative or romantic spoons, this book will teach you the basics about this exciting tradition. Even if you already know a bit about the topic, this book will expand your horizons with great recommendations for carving and finishing. It will also equip you with all the information you need to make your own historically inspired and unique romantic spoons.

Any spoon that is not meant for eating but for display or gifting is a decorative spoon, but not all decorative spoons are romantic spoons. A romantic spoon cannot simply function as a utensil or as an attractive art piece; it must also send a message of feeling, passion, or love. Although such spoons are frequently and somewhat too broadly called “lovespoons,” you will soon see that this is a restrictive name for a wide and rich field of spoon carving. This book’s collection digs into that field, examining tester, courting, wedding, novelty, and festival spoons, and explains the variety of purposes for which these romantic spoons were historically (and are still today) given and used.

The spoons that make up this volume are historical facsimiles, designed to be accurate to period, region, and dominant styles. Many are amalgamations of a range of common features or techniques, while others more closely represent a particularly significant historical spoon or regional specialty style. They are not intended to be exact replicas, simply very accurate historical representations.

The patterns in this book can be directly copied and carved, but they can also be cut and pasted in new combinations of elements to create an infinite array of fresh designs. For those with strong design abilities, this book will provide a rich foundation on which to experiment and build.

Romantic spoon carving is a lot of fun and is a very worthwhile pursuit. Whether you wish to carve a wedding or anniversary gift, a birth or memorial marker, or if you just want to enjoy the technical challenge of carving some of the designs, you will find plenty of inspiration and assistance within these pages.

—David Western, BC, Canada

PART 1

Getting Started in Spoon Carving

This section will teach you everything you need to get started carving romantic spoons, including a quick introduction to their history and symbolism; suggested woods and essential tools; ways to finish and preserve your spoons; basic cuts and carving safety for novice carvers; how to customize a spoon design unique to you; and how to carve a basic spoon step by step. Read what applies to you based on your level of familiarity with spoon carving and woodcarving in general, then head to Part 2: The Patterns!

What Is Romantic Spoon Carving?

Beginning in the early to mid-1600s, it became common practice for young, single men throughout Europe to create ornately embellished, carved wooden love tokens that would be given as gifts to the young women who had caught their eye or captivated their hearts.

Often, these tokens tended to reflect regional trades, pastimes, or specialties by taking the form of decorated tools, with tools for knitting, lacework, or milking being particularly popular. In several regions, however, the spoon became the dominant courting, wedding, and gifting love token, eventually finding popularity from the Arctic Circle to the Carpathian Mountains.

Little is known of why the spoon became such a popular love token; explanations range from its simplicity to carve and its portability, to the urge of common folk to mimic the gentry’s burgeoning use of fancy metal spoons.

The spoons themselves were given for a variety of romantic reasons, ranging from simple statements of passionate interest through to the symbolic sealing of marital unions. Ardent amateurs and impartial professionals alike carved them. Often, the spoon acted as a résumé, showing the young woman and her family that the young man was skilled and tenacious or that he was financially secure enough to afford the services of a professional. A well-carved spoon clearly showed the carver’s abilities and his willingness to see a difficult task through to a proper conclusion, traits that were favorably viewed. However, a poorly carved offering would most certainly have not assisted the young man in winning approval with anyone.

Although the vast majority of romantic spoons are now carved by machinery in a commercial setting, more and more hand carvers are realizing just how wonderful a project they are. Easily crafted from limited materials and with a simple selection of tools, a spoon can encapsulate a great deal of symbolic imagery and tell a real story of love or admiration. They are beautifully suited as gifts for a wide range of circumstances ranging from weddings and anniversaries to birthdays and christenings.

Once carved only by men, now anyone can carve romantic spoons, and their range of purpose has expanded significantly with a vast array of symbolic images now utilized to make ever more meaningful designs. Whether you’re a complete beginner or an advanced carver, spoon carving offers you an opportunity to create beautiful and deeply meaningful artwork from basic tools and minimal material.

Three antique Welsh lovespoons from the mid to late 19th century.

The variety of designs that can be found on a romantic spoon’s handle is rich and infinite.

This Book’s Goals

By creating this book, my intention is to fulfill three main goals. The first is to address two dismal shortages in the romantic spoon carving realm. Currently, there is an acute lack of published historical information regarding the romantic spoon, as well as an equally dire lack of spoon designs that are accurate to period and place; this book takes a large step toward filling that void.

The second goal is to give interested woodcarvers, artists, and enthusiasts an opportunity to study a mixture of design styles from the period of 1650–1900. It allows them to see firsthand the various techniques and styles used by the Northern European spoon carving community and to make their own versions of classic romantic spoon designs.

The third goal is to amply illustrate that the field of romantic spoon carving is much broader and richer than is often thought. Moving beyond the notion of all romantic spoons being “lovespoons,” this collection delves into feeler, courting, wedding, novelty, and festival spoons and explains the variety of purposes for which romantic spoons were historically given and used.

Parts of a Spoon

HANDLES

The handle is the most noticeable part of a romantic spoon. It is the busy area where the romantic symbolism occurs and where the woodcarving artistry is on full display. Although modern spoons have become extremely complex and artistic, traditional romantic spoons relied on a much more limited design palette. That doesn’t mean they were any less exuberant and passionate, though, and the craftsmen from each of the regions and countries highlighted in this book developed many unique and creative ways of decorating their spoons.

Detail of an exquisitely carved antique Welsh lovespoon.

STEMS

The stem area is found between the handle and the bowl and is an area outside of the bowl where carving was frequently undertaken on all faces and sides. Unlike today’s typical souvenir lovespoons that are uniformly machined from flat timber, almost all antique romantic spoons employed curved stems to add dynamism and technical virtuosity to the designs.

A deeply sweeping stem adds tremendous visual drama to the spoon by enabling the spoon to cast a shadow when hung on the wall and helping the spoon to feel more comfortable when held in the hand.

As it is frequently the weakest section of the spoon, the timber in this section is often left deeper than it is wide. This gives the stem an elegant appearance when viewed from the front, but allows it to maintain maximum strength and support against breakage.

BOWLS

The bowl was generally left unadorned on historical romantic spoons. However, that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t carefully and beautifully carved. Even on the crudest of antique spoons, an inordinate amount of time seems to have been spent ensuring the bowl was sleek and fair. Unlike modern souvenir spoons, the bowls on historical spoons were always elegant and refined with slender, delicate bowl walls and crisp, thin lips.

Historical spoon bowls appear light and dignified and offer a beautiful and serene counterpoint to the frequently busy handle designs. A spoon bowl is often tilted from its tip back toward the junction with the stem. This gives the spoon more visual vitality and is a clear indication to anyone viewing the spoon that the carver possessed both great skill and tremendous patience.

The sweep of the stem adds elegance and grace to a spoon’s design.

The bowl is the unsung part of the romantic spoon’s magic and is frequently overlooked or mishandled by modern carvers. A poorly carved bowl can completely undercut any hard work that has gone into the handle and stem and leave a spoon looking amateurish and unfinished. Carving a balanced and elegant bowl is perhaps the best way to create a romantic spoon that is memorable and worthwhile!

A well-carved bowl is key to the success of a spoon’s design.

Save for some occasional arching, the back face of antique romantic spoon handles was rarely decorated.

BACK SIDES

Traditionally, most romantic spoons were designed to be viewed from the front; they were commonly displayed hung on a wall or contained in a spoon rack. Although many carvers in the modern era like to finish both sides of the spoon’s handle, in the old days they were most frequently left completely unadorned and unfinished. In many cases, the back surface was only crudely carved and the edges were not rounded over in any way.

Occasionally, by tapering from the center line toward the outer edges, carvers would coarsely shape the back to create an illusion of elegance and thinness when the spoon was viewed from the side. This technique enabled the carver to retain a good deal of robust structural integrity while giving the visual appearance of delicacy.

On many modern spoons, the backs are periodically used as a place to engrave names, dates, or romantic quotations, but this was extremely uncommon on historical examples. Most of the spoons in this volume feature little to no carving on their backs.

This close-up shows the gentle arch shaping of the handle’s back surface. The top face of the spoon is flat; the bottom face of the spoon bows slightly outward from center, as you can see.

Woods

Each region of Europe has a species of tree that supplies carvers the main lumber for spoons carved in that area. The most popular woods tend to be deciduous (hardwood) timbers, which are on the softer end of the hardness scale while remaining sturdy enough to take detailing and withstand the forces of repetitive carving activity. Softwoods such as pines, fir, or cedars can also be used, but they have to be carefully selected, as they are frequently too soft and stringy for use as spoons.

For modern carvers wishing to emulate the woods of yore (detailed below), the most commonly available woods today are birch, linden, sycamore, bigleaf maple, red alder, cherry, and walnut. Boxwood and holly are good for smaller spoons that will be inlaid with wax, but these particular woods can be difficult to find, so fruitwoods and maple make a good substitute.