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Carving out history -

The working of wood by early humans dates back to the time of the Neanderthals. The oldest known wooden sculpture in the world is the Shigir Idol, made during the Mesolithic period around 12,000 years ago.

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Woodworking in antiquity -

The ancient Egyptians worked extensively in wood. This is evidenced by numerous extant frescoes uncovered at archaeological sites depicting carpenters at work, such as those in this wall painting found in the tomb of Nenamon and Ipuki in the Valley of the Nobles near Luxor.

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Furnishing a trade -

Furniture recovered from tombs testify to the skilled hands of ancient Egyptian woodworkers, for example this stool with legs carved in the form of lions paws. There is also evidence of the process of veneering. This was achieved using animal glue—a crude varnish prepared from mammalian collagen.

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Crafting a likeness -

Egyptian artisans used wood as a canvas on which to reproduce the likeness of pharaohs and others residing at the top echelons of society. Pictured here is a relief of a courtier on what is probably a fragment of a false door.

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Tools for the job -

Commonly used woodworking tools of Egyptian civilization during the New Kingdom between the 16th century and the 11th century BCE included  axes, adzes, chisels, pull saws, drifts, and jointer planes.

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Raw materials -

Different native acacia trees provided carpenters with their raw material. But eventual deforestation in the Nile Valley resulted in the need for the importation of wood, notably cedar.

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Commercial carpentry -

The Greek and Roman civilizations relied heavily on skilled carpenters for the production of material for buildings, transportation, tools, and household items. Shipwrights across the ancient world used vast amounts of wood in ship building, and, of course, wood provided energy for heat and for cooking.

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Skilled profession -

Similarly, the Babylonians were highly efficient in woodworking methods, their prowess recorded on items like this terracotta statuette depicting a carpenter busily at work.

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Joseph the Carpenter of Nazareth -

In Mathew 13:54-55, reference is made to Jesus being a "carpenter's son." In Mark 6:3, the word "carpenter" is also used but applied to Jesus, without mention of Joseph. In this illustration, Jesus is being taught Joseph's trade.

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Noah's Ark -

Whether or not you believe in the story of Noah's Ark, there's no doubt that building such a vessel would have constituted one of the biggest woodworking projects of the era. This detail of the boat's construction is found on a mosaic in St. Mark's Basilica in Venice.

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Chinese woodworking -

In ancient China, one man is considered as having initiated the woodworking movement in that nation—Lu Ban. Together with his wife Lady Jun, the pair are thought to have introduced the plane, chalk-line, and other tools to the country, around 720 BCE.

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Japanese woodworking -

Also in the Far East, Japan is noted for developing a propriety style of woodworking, a form very much considered its own and passed down from generation to generation over centuries.

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Woodblock printing -

Japan is unique in that even today a carpenter spurns the use of electrical tools in favor of traditional implements. Their wooden sculpture is still hand-crafted, as are the woodblocks (pictured) used to produce single sheets of highly detailed and decorative prints in a fashion similar to the Western woodcut process.

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Creative and complex -

Arab and Persian carpenters were envied for their use of geometry in creating highly complex symmetrical patterns in woodwork. Using timber mainly sourced from Lebanese cedar, these artisans would create panels assembled from hundreds of small, carefully shaped pieces of wood. Carved ivory elements were often introduced to highlight the geometric designs. The minbar—a pulpit in a mosque where the imam (leader of prayers) stands to deliver sermons—was, and still is, especially suited to this exquisite use of wood.

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Use in traditional Arabic architecture -

So too is the mashrabiyya, a wooden screen on hinges made from intricately carved wood latticework that serves as a decorative blind. The mashrabiyya is an element of traditional Arabic architecture used since the Middle Ages up to the mid-20th century.

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Practical applications -

On a more practical level, anybody could make a miswak, a teeth-cleaning twig made from the Salvadora persica, a tree native to India, the Middle East, and Africa. A miswak is often used by Muslims in favor of a conventional toothbrush during the Holy Month of Ramadan.

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Woodworking in the medieval era -

The use of wood in the Middle Ages was ubiquitous. Everything from castle interiors to ships, weapons, and furniture required timber. And, as ever, a good deal of the material was needed to provide fuel for heating the home and for preparing meals.

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Carpentry in the Middle Ages -

During the early Middle Ages, oak, and to a lesser extent walnut, was preferred in England, Flanders, and the Netherlands. From the 15th century onwards, elm and beech was the material of choice in France. Poplar, meanwhile, was more desirable in the Mediterranean region.

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Use of lindenwood -

In Germany and Central Europe, lindenwood, or limewood, was preferred. This softer and lighter species of wood was much used by sculptors to create stunningly intricate pieces like the Holy Blood Altar, a masterpiece of medieval woodcarving by Tilman Riemenschneider (c. 1460–1531). It's found in St. James's Church, Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

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Wood sculpture -

The finest wood carver working in England during the late Middle Ages was Grinling Gibbons (1648–1721), who also worked with limewood. His decorative work can be admired in Windsor Castle, Hampton Court Palace, and St Paul's Cathedral, among other historic properties. Pictured is the Cosimo Panel. Commissioned from Gibbons by Charles II as a gift for the Duke of Tuscany, it is on display at the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy.

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Music making -

A significant development in woodworking during the medieval era was the production of musical instruments. Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737) mostly used wood from spruce and maple trees to produce the world's finest violins. He also made cellos, violas, and harps. The invention of the instrument that we would today call a piano was announced in 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731). Materials often used to create early wood pianos included cypress, spruce, or pine for the soundboard and hardwoods like hickory, beech, and maple for pins and bridges.

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Overuse and deforestation -

In the same way the Nile Valley was left practically bereft of acacia, extensive cultivation of Europe's medieval forests also led to deforestation and the search for timber sources farther afield. This illustration from the 14th-century Tacuinum Sanitatis shows townsfolk chopping and storing firewood.

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Woodworking in the 19th century -

With the boom of the Industrial Revolution, the 19th century brought about a great change in woodworking techniques. Carpentry itself became increasingly sophisticated, requiring more complex tools.

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Carpentry becomes automated -

Creating the dovetail joint, a joinery technique seen in ancient Egyptian furniture, became semi-automated with the design of a foot-powered  machine. J. A. Fay & Co., based in Cincinnati, Ohio, became well known for its manufacture of mortisers—specialized woodworking machines used to cut square or rectangular holes in a piece of lumber.

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A measure of success -

In 1868, the spring measuring tape was introduced, a simple device that made woodworking far easier for carpenters and others such as cloth merchants to measure out the precise dimensions of their raw materials.

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The writing desk -

The writing desk, or bureaux, originated in the early 17th century from old fashioned Bible boxes, flat boxes just large enough to hold the family Bible. Traditionally, the desk was meant to facilitate the writing by hand of letters. It later accommodated typewriters, and today usually supports a computer. Pictured at his desk is Victorian novelist Charles Dickens (1812–1870).

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The benefits of bark -

Woodworking extends to using tree bark as a construction material. In fact, tree bark has all sorts of applications. For example, the traditional birchbark canoe was the principal means of water transportation for the indigenous peoples of the northeastern United States. And, of course, cork oak is what's used in the manufacture of wine stoppers.

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World's oldest wooden structure -

Hōryū-ji temple in Ikaruga, Japan, is the world's oldest surviving wooden structure, a fact recognized by Guinness World Records.

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Europe's oldest wooden buildings -

Some of the oldest buildings in Europe are the stave churches of Norway. These historic medieval-era places of worship were constructed from ore-pine, a cured pinewood known for its resilience to rot and decay.

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Woodworking today -

Today, computer numeric controlled (CNC) machines make short thrift of woodworking. A CNC router, for example, is used for cutting various materials, such as wood, composites, metals, plastics, glass, and foams. The device performs the tasks of many carpentry shop machines such as the panel saw and the boring machine. It can also cut joinery such as mortises and tenons.

Sources: (Woodworking Trade) (The New York Times) (ScienceDirect) (The Art of Hand Tools)(Vintage Machinery) (Encyclopedia Design) (Guinness World Records)

See also: Creative ways to reuse a dead tree

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