Things Indian; Being Discursive Notes on Various Subjects Connected With India - Softcover

Crooke, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1151266930 ISBN 13: 9781151266934

Publisher: General Books LLC, 2012

Synopsis

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1906. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... wood-carving.--Wood-carving is a very ancient Indian art. The earliest forms of stone architecture reproduce the style and construction of the original wooden buildings. As early as the sixteenth century, Barbosa describes the workmen of Cambay as "great artists with the turning-lathe, who make large bedsteads," a splendid example of which, wrought with gold and mother-of-pearl, was given by the King of Melinda, in East Africa, in 1502, to Vasco de Gama. Modern wood-carving takes various forms. We have, first, the splendid examples of carving applied to architecture still to be seen in some of the larger cities, like Gaya, or Nasik, the old Sikh towns of the Panjab, the temples and private houses of Nepal and Burma. Next comes the Black-wood furniture of Bombay in a style obviously derived from the Dutch. "Although," as Sir G. Birdwood remarks, "it is highly probable that the excessive and ridiculous carving on old Dutch furniture was itself derived from the sculptured idols and temples which so excited their astonishment when they first reached India." Thirdly, the sandalwood carving of Western India, which assumes various forms. To quote the same writer: "The Surat and Bombay work is in low relief, and the designs consist almost entirely of foliated ornament; the Canara and Mysore work is in high relief, the subjects being chiefly mythological; and the Ahmadabad work, while in flat relief, is deeply cut, and the subjects are mixed, floral, and mythological." The Burmese work forms a school of itself, derived immediately from the decoration of Buddhist monasteries and pagodas. The design largely consists of figures of birds and animals, and of the Nats, or spiritual beings, which Buddhism has adopted from the indigenous Animism. In animal forms the elephant is ...

About this title

About the Author:

William Crooke holds a doctorate in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Berkeley. He has taught German Literature and Media Studies at the Catholic University of America and is currently Assistant Professor of German and French at Eastern Tennessee State University. In addition to German literature, his research interests include German film, Italian women writers, and Francophone African literature.

About this edition

• Publisher: General Books LLC
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1151266930
• ISBN 13: 9781151266934
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 188