Carving a Cartouche

FJDUFF

Active member
Does anyone recall an article posted (or published) on carving a Phila cartouche?  I seem to remember something by Gene Landon but can't recall where I've seen it.  I just finished reviewing Mary May's excellent 5-part video and must say that it's very compelling but wanted to see what else might be available.  I've finished that highchest I have been working on for several years and was thinking 'why not try a cartouche?'

Frank Duff
Monkton, MD
 
I do not recall an article by Gene Landon specific to carving a cartouche, although He may have. 
Chris Storb writes a blog titled “In Proportion to the Trouble” where he frequently discussed Philadelphia furniture and specifically carving.  In this blog post He shares information on carving a Philadelphia Cartouche;

https://cstorb.wordpress.com/2016/01/22/jesse-bair-at-sothebys/#comments

You will want to look through his blog as there are many posts related to carving. I am sure you will find it worthwhile.
If the link does not work....Google Christopher  Storb and in the categories select garvan carver
 
Thank you  Ken.

I am familiar with Chris's site. It has been a big help to me in developing the construction details of the Highchest that I built as it has a full bonnet and Chris's insights and pics on this design detail were invaluable.

Frank Duff
 
Frank, you are about to do the cartouche  at a most opportune time. Along with the link to the info on Chris Storb, one of Gene Landon's most ardent students, Tony Kubalak is releasing his second book, "Carving 18th Century Furniture Motifs" due to be released March 15th. In this bookTony has devoted 37 pages to carving the cartouche that SAPFM bestows every year.  If you haven't had the opportunity to peruse Tony's first book, "Carving 18th Century Furniture Elements" you will be in for a pleasant surprise. As an engineer, Tony is able to methodically break down the seemingly complicated tasks into a cohesive step by step approach toward completion. With that many pages devoted to the cartouche, you can expect many clear photos giving you great insight in your project. I see the book is made available at Amazon and you can visit his website at, www.tonykubalak.com. Incidentally, Tony is a long time member of SAPFM.
 
I agree with the comments on Tony.  I have been asked to write a review of his new book.  I just got a print out and have been going through it.

Tony is excellent at describing how and why of carving.  I never really "got it", when doing a ball and claw how to locate the top of the ball.  His book gave me an explanation that was easy to follow and understand.

Check out his book soon.

Ken
 
Ken and rac50,

Thanks for the info on Tony's next book.  I have the fist one he published and refer to it ofter.

That having been said, I find that nothing beats the video and I find Mary May's extremely helpful and easy to learn from. 

I will get a copy of Tony's new book.

Also, does anyone have a thought on whether the rays of the lumber should be going down or up when carving a surface, such as the cartouche?  I'm thinking about ease of carving and getting good surfaces with the tools.  I'd appreciate any insights offered on this topic. Thanks.

Frank Duff
 
Frank,
As to your question about the direction of the rays, I really don't think you will have much choice or that it will make much difference. The reason I say that is, finding 12/4 Mahogany is difficult enough and thinking of ease of carving isn't an issue as you will be dealing with "switchback" grain throughout this project and you just have to alter the direction so you are either going "downhill" or crossgrain as much as possible.
    Having said that I received a copy of Tony's book earlier this week and I have to say that with 38 pages and 132 color pics of carving the cartouche, he has pretty much covered all the bases. That said, there are 8 additional projects with the same attention to detail. As an avid collector of such books and virtually any other books/magazines related to period furniture, Tony's books are unique in the thought and detail dedicated to each project. Good luck with the completion of your project!
Ross 
 
Not sure what is meant by “rays” of the wood. If you mean grain, all cartouches carved in Philadelphia in the middle of the eighteenth century began with a block with the grain oriented vertically. These eighteenth-century cartouches made in Philadelphia are consistent to a remarkable degree across the various carvers and designs. The main vertically oriented blank is 2 inches thick. On shield style cartouches, a two-inch blank, with its grain also vertical, is laminated to the top of the blank for extra thickness to carve the frond. On urn and flower cartouches the central budding flower has its grain oriented horizontally for ease of carving and is about one and a half to two inches thick. On basket and flower cartouches, the basket is carved from a two-inch-thick blank with its grain oriented horizontally and glued to the front of the main blank. These cartouches most often also incorporate a central flower like the urn cartouches, but it must sit on a riser glued to the main blank so it may extend the past the basket. Like everything, there are exceptions but exceedingly few. And as much as it is possible to do, you must choose wood of the plainest and straightest grain for strength and ease of carving.
 
I just got the final published book on Friday.  It is excellent.  My reviewing process was being done using a PDF publisher released for editorial purposes.

The new book is excellent and is consistent with all other comments. In the 37 pages on the cartouche, there are approximately 100 photographs detailing the process.  All the photos are very good.  I believe you can buy the book now directly from Tony.  I encourage you to do that as I believe he gets more money than an Amazon sale.

Ken
 
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