DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42779#0264
igo FOR WORKS IN HARD AND SOFT STONE
damage the instrument. Consequently the cutting-blade of
his gouge can, if necessary, describe even more than a semi-
circle and attain the shape of an ogival arch. But a gouge
designed to work on stone cannot even describe a wide
curve or a semicircle, without endangering the corners of
the cutting-edge. It must always have a very open curve
and form but a small segment of a circle. All sculptor’s
gouges designed for hard stones are of this type and Greek
gouges were no exception. Every gouge-mark I have
examined has been made by a gouge which had a very flat
curve.
A variety of the gouge which was perhaps used in antiquity
is that which has a V-shaped cutting-edge. This can only
be used for the barest surface work and is a most delicate
instrument. It cuts, obviously enough, a V-shaped groove
in a stone surface. But it is more a woodworker’s tool. On
the whole I am inclined to think that it was used mainly for
soft stone and that the bulk of very narrow V-shaped grooves
seen in archaic sculpture, particularly in the lines of hair,
are done by the simple flat chisel. The chisel blade would
cut down one side of the groove and then down the other.
I am the more persuaded to this conclusion since sculptors
tell me that for working on marble the V-shaped gouge proves
to be almost impracticable. It either splinters the stone or
its own corners.
Work done with a moderately wide gouge whose curve is
flat, is best seen on the hair that falls down the back of No.
673 in the Acropolis Museum, a kore in the full ‘Chiot’ style.
It is also used on the under-chiton of No. 690, a Nike of the
close of the sixth century, and on lines below the waist on
the drapery of No. 684, a fine kore associated in style with the
Nike; it is also used on the under-chiton of No. 685, a kore
of the last quarter of the sixth century.
It is clear that in the finely decorated korai of the sixth
century the gouge was used in many cases for drapery. In
the main, its use was confined to thin garments like the
damage the instrument. Consequently the cutting-blade of
his gouge can, if necessary, describe even more than a semi-
circle and attain the shape of an ogival arch. But a gouge
designed to work on stone cannot even describe a wide
curve or a semicircle, without endangering the corners of
the cutting-edge. It must always have a very open curve
and form but a small segment of a circle. All sculptor’s
gouges designed for hard stones are of this type and Greek
gouges were no exception. Every gouge-mark I have
examined has been made by a gouge which had a very flat
curve.
A variety of the gouge which was perhaps used in antiquity
is that which has a V-shaped cutting-edge. This can only
be used for the barest surface work and is a most delicate
instrument. It cuts, obviously enough, a V-shaped groove
in a stone surface. But it is more a woodworker’s tool. On
the whole I am inclined to think that it was used mainly for
soft stone and that the bulk of very narrow V-shaped grooves
seen in archaic sculpture, particularly in the lines of hair,
are done by the simple flat chisel. The chisel blade would
cut down one side of the groove and then down the other.
I am the more persuaded to this conclusion since sculptors
tell me that for working on marble the V-shaped gouge proves
to be almost impracticable. It either splinters the stone or
its own corners.
Work done with a moderately wide gouge whose curve is
flat, is best seen on the hair that falls down the back of No.
673 in the Acropolis Museum, a kore in the full ‘Chiot’ style.
It is also used on the under-chiton of No. 690, a Nike of the
close of the sixth century, and on lines below the waist on
the drapery of No. 684, a fine kore associated in style with the
Nike; it is also used on the under-chiton of No. 685, a kore
of the last quarter of the sixth century.
It is clear that in the finely decorated korai of the sixth
century the gouge was used in many cases for drapery. In
the main, its use was confined to thin garments like the