Handcut, woodcarves. What is that?

A theme for enthusiasts of wood carving!
From master wood carver Wolfgang Korotkow

Publisher and writer:
Restorer and master wood carver Wolfgang Korotkow

1 Introduction:
In the wood carfing field, just like in any other field, among many white sheep are also a few black sheep.
These black sheep that I refer to, are those that purposely sell their customers figures that are carved by a machine.

2 Fine-milled:
That means that the individual figure from a piece of wood to the final finished piece, is worked on by a computer. This is no indiviual sculptor, but instead a mass production.
The first piece in the line looks exactly like, for example, the 5000th piece. There is no longer a person on the milling machine involved in the production.

3 Fine-milled and after cleaning:
After the figures come out from the computer programmed machine, then the finer details are completed by the wood-carving knife.
This worker and wood carver are also called a "cleaner", because they only work on certain areas.
A lot of these figures, after this stage, become another coat, that is painted and gilded, that is put on top of repeated layers of chalk. This work at first glace is even for an expert hard to distinguish that it's not from a real hand cutter. So how difficult is it for a layman, who cannot see the difference at all.

To differentiate the production of these figures, one has to pay attention to the following features!
they are almost always from a hard wood (maple wood)!
the are heavier than the same sized figures (hard wood is heavier than soft wood)
they have year rings, that are to be seen on the base of the figure.
they are often calm, so you cannot see the rounded and smooth areas, and also the hard wood structure is hidden.

4 Wood cut:
This is a description, which sounds similar like hand cut. But it is to do with machine work.

5 Roughly pre-milled piece:
Those are the wood carvings that are roughly cut by the sculptormachine, and then are completed by hand. Not one trace of this machine work is allowed to be visible.
This kind of carving is one of the widely used methods of carving. It saves the sculptor the rough work of continously carving out.
When this piece of work is done over like the description above, then this finished figure is 'hand cut' and is allowed to be sold with a certificate. A feature of a real handcut work is the fine cut edges, that arise when the wood-carving knife cuts into it.
Another feature is, that each piece turns out different, as it's an indiviual work.

6 unique and one off pieces:
These are sculptors, that are finished on a one off basis. For example figures for the church, front of buildings and so on.

7 Composed and gold-painted figures:
That's what sculptor's work is called when it's painted and gold plated. This phrase does not say anything about the way the sculpture was made.

8 Handpainted:
This description only means that the figure was painted by hand.

9 Impact metal gold plating:
With this word one can understand that it is not a real gold plating. Most are fixed on with a Mixtion (Mixtion is an oil which is a glue for fake gold paper).
This description does not say anything about how the sculpture was worked on.

10 Gold plated:
There are a lot of ways to goldpaint. In sculpture there are mostly only 2 methods that are used:

The Mixtion gold painting (look out 9), but this time with real gold paper on a chalk base.
The most beautiful, but the most time intensive technique, is Poliment gold painting.
This technique is started on a chalk base, and the last coat is he so called Poliment (Tonbulus). After the gold is put on, then it's rubbed with a semi-precious stone on the Bolus with agate. As a result of this the gold gets its shine.
The carat measure indicated how thick or thin the gold paper is. The higher the carat measure the thicker the layering of the gold paper. The smallest gold rating is 18 carat - 23.5 is the highest measure in the paper coating.

11 Conclusion:
This was just a small outline of the different technical terms and methods that are used in the wood carving field.
For you as a customer and buyer, it is important to protect yourself from cheating.

Here are some tips summarised on how not to be cheated:

Buy only from an expert (Master wood carver, sculptor)
Pay attention to the distinguishing marks that have been listed above: cut edges, limewood, etc.
Let the seller explain the origins of the sculptor and ask for a detailed description of how it was made.
Insist on a certificate to be issued, even if it is just an informal piece of written paper. It should confirm that it was bought from him and is a 'real hand carving'.
As onyl the term 'hand carving' is legally proteced, and there is no other term that can be used.
When you already have a sculpture and are unsure of how it was made, if it really is a hand cut piece, then ask a professional for help.

The sculpture association in Munich can help in proving pieces of work. Also every master wood carver would gladly provide information free of charge.
I believe that there are some non-serious businessmen and sellers who bring the occupation of sculptors into question, just because of profit winnings.

When you want 'a real wood carving' then you have something indivudual, a timeless wood work that generation after generation can enjoy.
I hope with this information that it may serve as a help in your purchase of a wood carving!

If you should have any questions, then please don't hestitate to contact me or one of my fellow collegues.

Wolfgang Korotkow
master wood carver

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