when it
is finished. Take, for instance, the head of the bed in the
illustration. Why should it stand up so high, like the gable of a house?
It is for no other reason than to give an opportunity for carving. A
plain board of half the height would have been just as effective as a
protection to the sleeper. Useless as carving may be from this practical
point of view, it must nevertheless be amenable to utilitarian laws. It
must be smooth where it is likely to be handled, as in the case of the
knobs on top of the posts; and even where it is not likely to be
handled, but may be merely touched occasionally, it should still have an
inviting smoothness of surface. As a matter of fact, all carving on a
bed should be of this kind, with no deep nooks or corners to hold dust.
Here, then, are a number of conditions, which, instead of being a
hindrance, are really useful incentives to fresh invention. Just as the
construction of joiner's work entails concessions on the part of the
carver, so the carver may ask the joiner to go a little out of his way
in order to give opportunities for his carving. A little knowledge of
this subject will make a reasonable compromise possible.

You will find a further advantage in undertaking a fairly large piece of
work. As it is almost certain to be in several parts, each may thus
receive a different treatment, by which means you not only obtain
contrast, but get some idea of the extraordinary power with which one
piece of carving affects another when placed in juxtaposition. Whatever
designs you may decide upon, should you undertake to carve the panels
for a bed, let them be in decidedly low relief. The surface must be
smoothly wrought, doing away with as much of the tool marking as you
can, but this smoothing to be done entirely with the tools, not by any
means with glass paper. Great attention must be paid to the drawing of
the forms, as it is by this that the impression of modeling and
projection will be expressed. A very pleasant treatment of such low
relief when a smooth and even appearance is wanted, is to carve the
ground to the full depth, say 1/8 in., only along the outlines of the
design, and form the remainder into a kind of raised cushion, almost
level in the middle with the original surface of the wood. The whole
design need thus be little more than a kind of deepish engraving,
depending for its effect upon broad lights defined by the engraved
shadows. See Fig. 54 for an example of th