18 OCTOBER 1856, Page 9

WOOD-CARVING.

We have inspected several specimens in wood-carving by Mr. W. Perry, an artist not yet known to the public, though he appears to have already attained some distinction. He has much fancy, a lively invention in composition, a keen eye for nature, and unusual skill of hand. The work that remains most impressed upon us is a medallion representing a nightingale perched upon a twig of hawthorn; the medallion surrounded by a garland of lilies of the valley. In a work of the kind, it is neces- sary that the forms of the natural object should be arranged symmetri- cally, so as to harmonize with the set forms of a piece of furniture. 'The lilies of the valley, for instance, are an integral part of the frame, with which, by a pretty adjustment of the sheathing leaves, they are, as it were, consolidated. Yet the grace and softness of the plant are perfectly caught. The endless variety of outline in which the tender yet sharp leaves bend and wave is copied with the fidelity of the photo- graph ; yet that which emulates the juicy tissue is wood, and the hand that bade it grow worked with ordinary carpenter's tools. So the leaves on the hawthorn stem curl with their indented edges as freely as if the Wind could blow them; and if you look long enough at the blossoms, you may begin to fancy that they would move at a breath. The night- ingale is a portrait : the characteristics of the bird—its gentle outline, its smooth but not lustrous feathers, its short unseen thighs and long shanks--are excellently seized. The bird is singing—the larynx swells with the note.

This is art with the true spark in it—the copy of nature by a mind which has so completely taken in the original that it is reproduced with the traits of life and spontaneous motion. Mr. Perry, we understand, is the son of a cabinetmaker; he has been employed in carving for the decoration of houses : in the cabinetmaker's shop was bred a real artist: Such is usually the history of wood-carving. 'Wood is an ungrateful material, which no man entering the broader portal of art would choose ; yet it possesses special capacities, in its fitness to receive a handling at once soft and sharp, in which no material can excel it. When accident, therefore, brings a real artist to the material, the result is workmanship of rare delicacy and beauty ; and Mr. Perry deserves to have his works deposited in a royal collection. He has attained that honour while yet comparatively unknown • for the medallion which we have been de- scribing has been purchased by the Queen.