The Nagas

Hill Peoples of Northeast India

Project Introduction The Naga Database

book : 'Konyak Nagas' by Christoph von Furer-Haimendorf, (1969)

caption: Chapter One. The Material Background
caption: tools and methods in wood-carving
medium: books
ethnicgroup: Konyak
production:
person: Furer-Haimendorf/ C.
date: 1969
refnum: with permission from Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York18:1
text: The instruments used in wood-carving were dao, knife, chisel, and hammer. When a large wooden post had to be carved, it was given a rough shape while it lay in the forest. Then it was dragged to the village and left to dry for many months. Only then did the sculptor set to work. Some artists drew the outlines of the planned figures with charcoal, but often a sculptor would begin his work with hammer and chisel, hacking chips from the post, until gradually the figure of man or beast grew out of the wood. When the figures had taken shape, the artist began to use his knife for the finer work of retouching.