Divine Beauty on a Peacock Ride

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Whatever the young maiden seems to enact, or that which looks like a theme : lifting her leg to mount the bird or feeding it with a fresh green food plant, or just sporting with it, seems to be the artist’s manipulation for discovering different profiles of the figure of the young woman and revealing its greater beauty. Beauty enshrines a figure’s anatomy : its modeling, plasticity, proportions, fluidity, curves and curls, but not to such level as reveals the maiden’s figure in this statue. Her entire form, the figure, its moves and gestures, contours to which her body-parts, ornaments and ensemble curve, form of coiffure, projected and subdued parts and even peep-through areas, besides the subordinate imagery : the peacock, its majestic tail, trotting feet and beak holding or sporting with a food-plant, and even the pedestal the figure has been installed on, reveals rare beauty and is the source of perpetual delight. Strangely, every part of her figure reveals rare beauty but sensualism in the least, not even her fascinatingly modeled breasts clad in an as temptingly designed stana-patta. Instead of, her figure abounds in sublime grace and inspires veneration.

The artist has conceived his figure of the young maiden with a round face which a celestial ‘bhava’ – pious sentiment, enshrines. Her half-shut lotus eyes suggest that she is absorbed within and the outward world has lost to her its relevance. A beautifully modeled sharp nose, lotus petals’ like carved eyes, arched eye-brows, elegantly shaped cheeks and an as elegantly aligning chin, well defined neck and a broad forehead with rings of hair framing it, all have been carved with utmost care and very sensitive mind. Corresponding to her round face the artist has conceived a pot-like styled coiffure. Lest the roundness of the face and the coiffure merged or tired the viewing eye by their symmetry, he has introduced in the intermediary space a ‘karnaphool’, a flower-like designed ear-ornament to relieve the monotony of repeat forms. The straight stretch of her arms, the right one, shot skywards, and the left, aligning to it, earthwards, both conjointly creating on one hand a delightful geometry, and on the other, so moved her breasts, the right one swung upwards, and the left, downwards, that they revealed far greater beauty.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.

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Sculpting Serenity: Unveiling the Art of Crafting Wood Statues

Wood has been a preferred material for sculptures and statues since ancient times. It is easy to work with than most metals and stones and therefore requires less effort to shape it into any desired shape or form. The texture of the wood gives an element of realism to the sculpture. The selection of an appropriate wood type is necessary for carving. Woods that are too resinous or coniferous are not considered good for carving as their fiber is very soft and thus lacks strength. On the other hand, wood such as Mahogany, Oakwood, Walnut wood, Weet cherry wood, etc., are preferred by sculptors because their fiber is harder. A wood sculptor uses various tools such as a pointed chisel in one hand and a mallet in another to bring the wood to the desired measurement and to make intricate details on it. A carving knife is used to cut and smooth the wood. Other tools such as the gouge, V-tool, and coping saw also serve as important tools in wood carving. Although the wood carving technique is not as complex and tough as stone carving or metal sculpting, nonetheless, a wood carver requires a high level of skills and expertise to create a stunning sculpture.

1. Selecting the right wood

The process of wood carving begins with selecting a chunk of wood that is required according to the type and shape of the statue to be created by the sculptor. Both hardwoods and softwoods are used for making artistic pieces, however, hardwoods are preferred more than softer woods because of their durability and longevity. But if heavy detailing is to be done on the statue, wood with fine grain would be needed as it would be difficult to work with hardwood.

2. Shaping the wood

Once the wood type is selected, the wood carver begins the general shaping process using gouges of various sizes. A gouge is a tool having a curved cutting edge which is useful in removing large unwanted portions of wood easily without splitting the wood. The sculptor always carves the wood across the grain of the wood and not against it.

3. Adding detailing

When a refined shape of the statue is obtained, it is time for making details on the statue using different tools. This is achieved by using tools such as a veiner to make and a V-tool to create decorative and sharp cuts.

4. Surface finishing

Once finer details have been added, the sculptor is ready to smoothen the surface and give it a perfect finish. Tools such as rasps and rifflers are used to get a smooth surface. The finer polishing is obtained by rubbing the surface with sandpaper. If a textured surface is required, this step is skipped. Finally, to protect the statue from excessive dirt accumulation, the sculptor applies natural oils such as walnut or linseed oil all over it. This also brings a natural sheen to the statue.