“A beautiful, intricate meditation on creativity and discovery, on fire and rebirth.” —Elizabeth Gilbert Awestruck at the sight of a Grinling Gibbons carving in a London church, David Esterly chose to dedicate his life to woodcarving—its physical rhythms, intricate beauty, and intellectual demands. Forty years later, he is the foremost practitioner of Gibbons’s forgotten technique, which revolutionized ornamental sculpture in the late 1600s with its spectacular cascades of flowers, fruits, and foliage.
After a disastrous fire at Henry VIII’s Hampton Court Palace, Esterly was asked to replace the Gibbons masterpiece destroyed by the flames. It turned out to be the most challenging year in Esterly’s life, forcing him to question his abilities and delve deeply into what it means to make a thing well. Written with a philosopher’s intellect and a poet’s grace, The Lost Carving explores the connection between creativity and physical work and illuminates the passionate pursuit of a vocation that unites head and hand and heart.

The Lost Carving: A Journey to the Heart of Making

Arts & Photography

Esterly, David

History & Criticism

Penguin Publishing Group

“A beautiful, intricate meditation on creativity and discovery, on fire and rebirth.” —Elizabeth Gilbert Awestruck at the sight of a Grinling Gibbons carving in a London church, David Esterly chose to dedicate his life to woodcarving—its physical rhythms, intricate beauty, and intellectual demands. Forty years later, he is the foremost practitioner of Gibbons’s forgotten technique, which revolutionized ornamental sculpture in the late 1600s with its spectacular cascades of flowers, fruits, and foliage. After a disastrous fire at Henry VIII’s Hampton Court Palace, Esterly was asked to replace the Gibbons masterpiece destroyed by the flames. It turned out to be the most challenging year in Esterly’s life, forcing him to question his abilities and delve deeply into what it means to make a thing well. Written with a philosopher’s intellect and a poet’s grace, The Lost Carving explores the connection between creativity and physical work and illuminates the passionate pursuit of a vocation that unites head and hand and heart.

VIKING

The V&amp;A's collection of furniture and woodwork from India and Sri Lanka is unrivalled, reflecting a tradition every bit as rich as that of sculpture, painting and textiles, and Amin Jaffer has selected for this volume 50 of the very finest examples of the genre. Masterpieces such as these were made to satisfy the demand of the colonial powers: the Portuguese, Dutch and British settlers who arrived on Indian shores from the late fifteenth century. They discovered, to their surprise, rare articles of courtly furniture richly worked and inlaid with precious stones and gold. However there was no local furniture that suited the settlers' manner of living, so they commissioned extravagant pieces along European lines from native craftsmen, allowing them free rein with local materials. The resulting fusion of Western furniture forms with Indian materials and decorative techniques gave rise to a wide range of luxury goods - cabinets, games-tables, painted boxes, ceremonial arms - that were breathtaking in their craftsmanship and widely prized in Europe, where they found their way into royal collections, ecclesiastical treasuries and stately houses. The 50 pieces in this volume, dating from the fifteenth to the late nineteenth century, demonstrate all the diversity and skill of Indian craftsmanship and tell a fascinating story about the changing role of domestic objects and their use in the subcontinent. They illustrate the subtle interaction between European and Indian tastes and sensibilities, and chart the course of colonial patronage. Many pieces illustrated here have never been published before, and Amin Jaffer's scholarly yet accessible text throws new light on an astonishingly rich yet largely unexplored tradition.

Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving

Harry N. Abrams

Product Description \nReissued to mark 300 years since the death of Grinling Gibbons (1648 
– 
1721), the greatest of decorative woodcarvers, this book reviews his work through the eyes of fellow carver, the late David Esterly\nReissued to mark 300 years since the death of Grinling Gibbons (1648–1721), this study views the work of the greatest of decorative woodcarvers from the perspective of a fellow carver, the late David Esterly. Grinling Gibbons is famous for giving wood "the loose and airy lightness of flowers." His flamboyant cascades of lifelike blossoms, fruits, foliage, birds and fish dominate English interiors of the late seventeenth century. They are among the glories of Windsor Castle, Hampton Court Palace, and St. Paul's Cathedral, as well as Badminton, Burghley, Petworth, and other great country houses. A contemporary of Christopher Wren and of the diarists Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn, Gibbons was part of the colorful world of Restoration England. His discovery by Evelyn in a tumble-down cottage near the River Thames was followed by a presentation to King Charles II, who rejected his early sculptural work. Gibbons responded by inventing his spectacular style of decorative carving. He was then rediscovered, reintroduced to the king, and launched into a triumphant career. After setting Gibbons in historical context, David Esterly's ground-breaking approach allows us to understand the process by which these exuberant carvings were created and how their forms reflect the organization of Gibbon's workshop. Esterly, a professional woodcarver who restored some of Gibbons' most important carvings, shares his unique knowledge of the layering process by which Gibbons built up such masterpieces as the Cosimo panel or the elaborate overmantels at Hampton Court Palace. Detailed photographs show these carvings in a disassembled state, revealing the secrets of their construction. Esterly also discusses Gibbons' formidable carving techniques, and his tools, workshop practice, materials, and finishing are described in detail. This generously illustrated volume will have a special appeal for carvers as well as for those interested in seventeenth-century interiors and the decorative arts.\nAbout the Author 
David Esterly (1944–2019) was a professional limewood carver, self-taught, whose work brought the Grinling Gibbons tradition firmly into the present and can be found in private and public collections. He played a key role in restoration work at Hampton Court Palace following the disastrous fire of 1986 and curated the award-winning V&A exhibition Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving in 1998. He was the subject and author of numerous articles and reviews appearing in the 
The Times, The Independent, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Apollo, The Times Literary Supplement, The Magazine Antiques, The Spectator, and elsewhere. Esterly's memoir 
The Lost Carving: A Journey to the Heart of Making (2013) was named a best book of the year by 
The New Republic and 
The Times Literary Supplement.

Victoria & Albert Museum

Grinling Gibbons (1648–1721), the greatest of decorative woodcarvers, is seen here through the eyes of a fellow carver, American artist David Esterly. Gibbons’s flamboyant cascades of lifelike blossoms, fruits, foliage, birds, and fish dominated English interiors of the late 17th century, in palaces, churches, and great country houses. Esterly’s own experience in limewood foliage carving gives him unprecedented insight into Gibbons’s methods. Unique photographs illustrate techniques, while spectacular interior shots show the carvings in their original settings.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Esterly, David. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Esterly, David

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Esterly, David. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Lost Carving: A Journey to the Heart of Making

The Lost Carving: A Journey to the Heart of Making

Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving

Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving

Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving

Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving