The Wild Goose Carvings Advisory Centre

 

What are Corbels and how can I use them?

The use of decorative corbels and carvings enables

to add decorative features of taste and distinction to their interior design.

Decorative wood corbels can also called decorative brackets. They are feature carvings, designed to lend support, highlight the relief construction of the woodwork and provide decoration to fireplace surrounds, shelving and architectural features.

  1. Decorative shelf support
     
  2. Bar Front Decoration.   
  3. Fire Surround Ornamentals
  4.  Millwork Accent Detail
     
  5. Architectural Facades

Corbels are available in a variety of styles suitable for any interior.  The images below show our carvings in varnished PINE wood.

  1.   Classical - the classical range of corbels provides a wide range of medium sized corbel brackets that are particularly suited to fire surrounds and cabinetry. 
     
  2. Jubilee - the clear straight lines of this design are available in a  scaled range of sizes suitable for cabinetry, architectural façade and ceiling decoration.
  3.    Art Deco - Modern style of support bracket providing maximum depth of projection for its size. This design presents the homemaker with "something different".
  4.  Pierced Carved - Pierced carved corbels otherwise known as 'fret carved, support brackets', provide a resplendent yet light feature with maximum projection.
  5.   Appliqué - Small detail corbel brackets. They can be used where only a shallow depth of projection is required
  6. Architectural - Large sized corbels of grandeur suitable for prestigious interior works such as housing, hotels or bars in an option of design styles.
  7. Ceiling Corbels provide an elegant feature in the hall, stairway  and auditorium. Traditionally they have greater depth in comparison to their height than shelf support corbels.  

A wide selection of carved decorative onlays or appliqués are available to compliment our range of corbels in a variety of woods…

But first you need to check which items will best suit your needs.  You will need to do a basic check of your project as outlined below…

Select the Correct Size of Decorative Wooden Corbel

Here's How to Do It

Step One -  Measure the dimensions  of your woodwork.

Step Two - Consider the optimum size of the decorative carved corbel or carvings which your  design  requires.

Step Three - Scroll through the Wild Goose Carvings list of 'corbels' and choose the right one for your job. Kindly note that larger sized decorative corbel brackets are displayed under the 'Architectural" section of the online catalogue.

Remember, measure twice and choose once

Remember, measure twice and select your correct corbel once



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Decorative Wood Onlays and Wooden Appliqués 

What is a "decorative wooden onlay or appliqué”?


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A carved wooden onlay is an individual piece of decorative relief carving which can be laid flat and secured to a surface with adhesive. It lends a decorative or ornamental effect to the surface on which it is applied. These items are often also called: -

What use is a carved onlay?

The natural wood finish and truly hand made quality of hand carved pine onlays  and appliqués  provides a richly enhanced decorative effect to all forms of millwork, interior carpentry and furniture. They are beautiful to admire, easy to fix in place, highly cost effective, and immediately available over the internet fresh from the hand of the master craftsman. The texture of relief carving creates a feature of highlight and shadow that breathes the very life of its natural grain into your furniture or interior design project. These appliqués can be fixed to all surfaces

 
Craftsman’s tip - Route out a rebate to approximately the same depth as the carving to be highlighted and ten percent wider in diameter.  Fix the carving to lie flat inside the rebate, gluing it in place. It will appear to have been carved directly into the surrounding wood.

What are my style options of decorative hand carved onlays?

The Wild Goose Carvings range of wooden onlays and decorative components are supplied in five different design styles.

Individual decorative carvings from each of the above style groups or families can be mixed and matched as required to create your desired ornamental effect and provide a finishing touch of elegance for home decoration.




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Corinthian Capitals and Ionic Pilasters


Corinthian Column Capitals are decorative capitals of the highest classical order. These magnificent carvings were developed by Greek sculptors, in stone, for the classical colonnades of Ancient Corinth. They are characterised by their four-cornered "cocked hat" scrolls. The scrolls project outwards bisecting the angle at each corner and create a widened top that acts as a support for a lintel or entablature.

The very earliest records of any one making a column capital at all are in ancient Egypt where the wider top of the support was originally shaped like an open lily flower. 

Ionic style capitals are characterised by their simplified lines. On each side their two scrolls are symmetrical and are on the same horizontal and vertical planes. Since they are shallower by the nature of their design than the protruding scroll of the Corinthian style, Ionic capitals are better suited as a capping to the shallower pilaster, or half depth column. The architect's term for a half column is a pilaster.

Pilaster columns are usually rectangular in section. The structured range of pilaster capitals available from Wild Goose Carvings will fit rectangular section upright pilasters or half columns specifying 2" to 9" width.  If preferred, a half column can be used either side of the doorway or fire surround. The half column will stand against a wall or other vertical surface.

Ionic pilaster capitals from Wild Goose Carvings are easy to fit as decoration to pilasters or half columns.
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Suitable for home fitting; -

Wooden column capitals and pilasters from Wild Goose Carvings are hand sculpted by craftsmen in the highest grade of pinewood. Each carving supplied to you is individually hand carved using the time-honoured technique of the craftsman's hand guiding a very sharp chisel through the natural fibres of solid timber. All timber is harvested from sustainable managed government controlled forests. Decorative Corinthian and Ionic column capitals can now be purchased direct from Wild Goose Carvings by secure server.

 
 

 


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What types of wood are our carvings supplied in?


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Onlays/ appliqués, carved table legs, corbels and shelf brackets are available in a choice of four sustainable solid woods;

As suppliers of hand carved solid wooden decorative components, Wild Goose Carvings is committed to environmental protection, is an equal opportunities employer and makes every effort to ensure that its purchases offer fair trading to its suppliers.


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How are our decorative carvings made?




Each piece that we supply is individually hand carved using the time honoured method of a craftsman guiding his very sharp chisel into the crisp fibres of selected natural wood. Our team of craftsmen operate from their own private workshops.
This sought after range of Wild Goose Carvings  hand carved onlays, corbel brackets and decorative components is designed by British artist Patrick Orme-Lynch. All of his designs are copyrighted.

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Astuces and Conseils


How do you fix Decorative Wood Onlays and Wooden Appliqués?


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Decorative solid wood onlays are best fixed in position with a spot of adhesive - its as easy as that, no bother no fuss. 
A small number of our more fragile carvings have been supplied with reinforcement struts to safeguard them during transportation. These can be carefully removed with a fine toothed fret saw or alternatively left in situ as an intrinsic part of the design.

Hand carved decorative wood carvings can be fixed with correct use of the appropriate adhesive to any surface such as wood, wood composite, cement, masonry, plastic & metal.

Larger items of carved wooden architectural features and decoratives can be incorporated as components into your prestige millwork or joinery project using proprietary adhesive or light screw fixings.


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 Although easy to fix, these solid woodcarvings will last forever, maturing with age to be treasured as an item of beauty and elegance by future generations. 

Taking care of your carving

Your carving is a work of art that has been hand carved by our master craftsmen. We trust that you receive it in as good a condition as when we dispatch it to you our packaging department ensures maximum safety of goods in transit, using recycled materials wherever possible.

Please inspect your carving as soon as practically possible, keeping them in dry and stable conditions until needed. Should any shortage, defect or damage be apparent, please notify us within 72 hours.

Once unpacked and mounted in situ the carvings should be sealed within two days and not exposed to direct sunlight or extremes of heat or humidity in the meantime. This is advisable in order to protect the natural fibre and grain structure of the wood.

Planning your work
Take time to plan your work in as much detail as possible. In order to assist you with information for your planning needs we offer you a line drawing plan of each of the carvings with specification details in inches and metric as well as a colour display picture.

A note on the widths and spans of your timber will help you to choose the right dimension of carving for your job and a diagram to scale in plan and section will ensure that you have considered details of depth and overhang or width and edge where surfaces meet.

Design Balance

Ornamental carvings create a feature of elegance and beauty as well as providing a practical means of assembling a decorative fixture. They can be used to emphasise or delineate variations in the depths of your joinery such as shelving or mantels. We provide a wide range of ornamentals to decorate flat surfaces in a choice of different styles and sizes.

The display of some of our flowers and motifs can be enhanced setting them into the wood. To achieve this first rout out a shaped recess of the correct size for them to lie in. This recess can be oval or circular depending upon the nature of the carving you decide to choose.

Remember to consider the scale of your work and match to it the available size of our hand carved component. Likewise consider the end effect that you wish to recreate and you will find the answer in our comprehensive range of style groupings and sizes.

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How do you fix larger items such as Corbels and bigger carvings?

Fitting And Fixing
Before installing your carvings you should take the opportunity to test the reaction and continuity of any of the stains or finishes which you may intend to use. Make a neat experiment on the reverse side of a portion of the carving without spoiling the face of the carving or the integrity of adhesion on the back.

Wherever possible, fix your carving using screws from behind. When using pins or glue to fix fragile or delicate carvings, it may be necessary to pre drill the holes so as to avoid splitting.

Tradesman's Tip

This can also be avoided by blunting the point of the panel pin with the sharp, light tap of a hammer. Also, scoring on either side of the intended hole across the grain will help deflect any splitting along the grain.
Different categories of carving will require different methods of fixing depending upon the nature of the job in hand.

Large 'Architectural' pieces are suitable for fixing as an integral part of a structure. However, most of our decorative components can be mounted with the aid of a suitable adhesive and optional light fixing.

Medium and larger sized carvings can be optionally fixed in one of the following ways:

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Step By Step


Step 1
Offer up the carving where required and select a suitable and structurally sound point on the carving at which to screw. Then mark the surface onto which it is to be attached.



Step 2
Drill pilot holes through the surface of the work at the marked points
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Step 3
Measure the combined depth of the work and your carving. Ensure that the length of the screw is not so long that it is going to protrude through the face.

Select the appropriate drill size for the screw being used and use with either a depth stop in place or by marking the drill, again so as not to drill too deep and come out through the other side of the carving. Pre drill the carving to depth.

Where possible it is best to screw fix from behind. Where this is not possible it may be necessary to employ other options for fixing.



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We recommend that you consider the following


The use of adhesive
Small carvings that will not be subject to any movement of the base structure can be mounted with adhesive only using a clamp or temporary pin to hold the carving whilst adhesive sets. Ensure that the surfaces are clean and free from dust and apply the adhesive of your choice as directed by the manufacturer. Remember to protect the face of your carving from pressure of the clamp with a soft pad or block. - Regular water based PVA adhesives are suitable for fixing carvings indoors. Please take care to remove any excess glue immediately, particularly around fret cut edges.

Should you wish to reinforce the adhesive with a fixing then a narrow gauge fixing pin can be used. Once the carving is in situ, drill a suitable hole for the pin size needed. Spread the adhesive very lightly to adhere to both surfaces and sink your pins below the facial surface of the carving with a fine punch and conceal with filler or stopper.

Fixing through the front face of the carving

When using screws to mount heavier or load bearing carved components from in front, you should drill a secondary hole deep enough to lose the head of the screw, with a drill size matched to the diameter of the dowel/plug intended to conceal the screw head. After fixing, plug the hole with glued dowel or sawdust and then use sandpaper or carve to match the surface contour of your carving.



Using a readily available cabinet fitting
Should you require to fit your carving directly to a wall then the use of a mirror plates of a suitable size are recommended.


To fit these in a concealed manner first pre drill and fix the mirror plate to the back of the carving. Then offer up the work, mark fixing points and set plugs into the solid structure of the wall to take the mirror plate fixings.

Slotted mirror plates can be used to fix the carving 'blind' or concealed behind the caving. In circumstances that will allow, the final wall fixing can be screwed in after the carving is set in position. In this case the plate should be left protruding from the edge. Affix the carving by screwing the mirror plates to the wall with screws of a suitable length. The thickness of the mirror plates can be effectively buried in the plasterwork thus leaving the surrounding wall surface smooth.



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Stains And Finishes

Your choices of finish are many and varied yet our carvings will lend themselves to most of them.

We can recommend simple staining, wax polishes, and gilded, painted or lacquered finishes.

Once your carvings are applied to your work and ready for finishing, make sure they are sanded and smoothed to your requirements before proceeding with your chosen effect.

Please remember to take safety precautions when using stains, varnishes and waxes. Protect your hands and eyes especially by wearing gloves and goggles. It is also advisable to wear a mask and ensure adequate ventilation when using solvent based products.

Preparation
Our carvings are suitably finished by the hands of the wood carver. You may wish however, to bring the final level of smoothness to a standard of your own choice. Before using proprietary finishes, it is advisable to fill any 'end grain' or blemish with wood filler. Follow manufacturers instructions.

Tradesman's Tip


An old fashioned technique is to use a mixture of ordinary wood glue and fine, clean sieved sawdust to make a filler paste that resembles wood grain fibre.
Any sanding you wish to carry out should be applied carefully with fine sand or glass paper.

Tradesman's Tip

In the case of pierced carved detail you can make up 'match stick' files by rolling small strips of sandpaper into a manageable stick for sanding inside edges.

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In the case of larger items the overall product can be sanded once in situ with a fine abrasive 'star' or 'flap' wheel attachment.

After a final sanding of the wood grain ensure that the overall surface is clean, dry and dust free before proceeding with the desired finish application. Prior to lacquering or fine polish work it is always advisable to clean up with methylated spirit which will not leave drying marks.

Wax and Polishing

Apply a light or clear coloured wax to a well-prepared surface. Two or more applications may be required, given the absorbency of the wood. Apply wax lightly with a cloth or brush and once dry, buff to a deep rich shine that will age to a fine patina in the fullness of time.

We would recommend and have used in our brochure photography water based, toluene free products. Ensure adequate ventilation especially when polishing in confined areas.

As referred to in the section on applying stains (above), it is best to avoid use of combination stained waxes due to the possibility of a build up or 'clogging' of a dark wax in the end grain of deeply carved or cross grain areas. It is better to apply stain separately where required.

We hope that you achieve the desired effect for which these natural wood products have been designed and also that these hints have been of assistance to you.

Stains And Finishes

Your choices of finish are many and varied yet our carvings will lend themselves to most of them.

We can recommend simple staining, wax polishes, and gilded, painted or lacquered finishes.

Once your carvings are applied to your work and ready for finishing, make sure they are sanded and smoothed to your requirements before proceeding with your chosen effect.

Please remember to take safety precautions when using stains, varnishes and waxes. Protect your hands and eyes especially by wearing gloves and goggles. It is also advisable to wear a mask and ensure adequate ventilation when using solvent based products.

Painted effects

Painted surfaces should be prepared and primed before any marks or blemishes in the naturally carved wood are filled.

In applying subsequent coats, be careful not to apply an excess of paint so that detail is lost through it collecting at a low point of the relief carving.

Staining
It is better to apply a separate stain when working with darker colours on carvings rather than one that is incorporated with a wax or varnish finish as well. This is to avoid a build up of pigmented wax or 'clogging' in the end grain of deep carved sections.

Stain can be applied to effect by brush, spray or soft cloth. In application the stain should be used sparingly and worked quickly. Do not allow the build up of dark stain in deep recesses or end grain. Protect your eyes and skin. Once dry a medium grade wire wool can be used to rub down, denibbing any raised grain. Remove dust ready for your building coats.

Varnish
After careful preparation and removal of all dust, a clear acrylic varnish can be applied directly to the work in several coats, building to the required finish and always following manufacturers instructions. Should you desire to enrich the natural tones of the wood with stain, then this should be applied separately rather than as combination, 'one coat' stain and varnish (see section on 'staining' above).

The inherent characteristics of a natural product such as wood may cause some variation in colour, particularly when treated with some oil-based varnishes.

For interior use it is advisable to use an acrylic varnish as these minimise any alteration of wood colour due to the effect of the varnish.

For carvings that have been mounted in a site out of doors, ensure that exterior or marine grade varnish, either acrylic, epoxy or oil based, is used.

Lacquering

The end quality of French polishing relies to a large degree upon the level of dust free cleaning achieved in preparation of a smooth surface and the absence of dust in the surrounding atmosphere during drying of the lacquer.

An applicator or 'rubber' should be made from lint free cloth (muslin or ideally chamois leather) wrapped around an absorbent pad of cotton wool. The polish is absorbed by the pad and applied with a steady 'figure of eight' motion.

Lacquer can be optionally mixed with linseed oil and some methylated spirit to ease application. It should not be applied in low temperatures, damp or dusty conditions.

As with any solvent-based product, you should adhere to basic health & safety rules and ensure adequate ventilation.

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A History of British Furniture Production


Like chapters in a book, the development of decorative woodwork can be traced to the availability of various woods throughout the history of furniture making and interior design.

The Age of Oak 1485 - 1660.


The influence of the Italian Renaissance in England brought about a transition from the strict practicalities of the Gothic church architecture  to the boldness of Tudor, the strength of Jacobean and the austerity of Cromwellian periods in interior design. Before this date both comfort and storage furniture were rudimentary if available at all.
The Age of Walnut 1660 - 1733.
The return of the royal court in exile brought  with it new ideas and techniques from Continental Europe hand in hand with the workability of this newly available and beautifully charactered wood that was even in grain, fine in texture and readily accepted a highly polished finish. This period saw the advent of cabriole legs, decorative pediments and a move towards more luxurious style of interior fittings and furniture.

The Age of Mahogany 1733 - 1900.


The versatility of working, stability of grain and imperviousness to attack by woodworm of this wood brought to England from the jungles of South America by Sir Walter Raleigh, shepherded the fashion designer style of Thomas Chippendale, famous for the publication of his 'Gentleman and Cabinetmaker's Directory". An instructional book that itself used the newly discovered power of mass production printing to spread the ideas of one furniture designer to the public at large. Chippendale was closely followed by the classical tones of Robert Adam (famous for his fine interior at Saltram House in Devon, England), the simplicity and grace of George Hepplewhite and Thomas Sheraton. The refined styles introduced by these gentlemen in London, England in turn gave way to the eclectic medley of Victoriana, a period, owing its beginnings to politicised world developments.  Seeing the sumptuous influences of Moghul dynasties brought back from the newly colonised Indian subcontinent, the discoveries from gentlemanly grand tours in classical Greece and the defeat of Napoleon, the annexation of ancient Egypt and a subsequent realisation of her treasures.

The Age of Pine 1820 - 21st Century.


Heralded by the Industrial Revolution, the new found wealth of the public at large in the late Georgian period demanded furniture as good as that in the stately homes of the gentry yet affordable to the working man in town and country. Demand for pine furniture has burgeoned since the post war period, as the slow growth of deciduous woods has been unable to keep up with the demand for solid wooden furniture. Pine has experienced a resurgence in fashion with the advent of paint stripping with caustic soda baths in the 1960's to reveal the natural wood, all the more in the later 20th century when conservation of existing broadleaf forests became an issue. Their contribution to arresting the greenhouse effect and global warming made it impractical and environmentally irresponsible to continue denuding those forests that cannot be sustainably cultivated yet evergreen pine and larch can be husbanded without causing undue damage to our present and future environment. (See our Environmental and Social Statement)

The Age of Composite Material and Synthetics - 1870 on.


Although plywood chairs were first produced in Germany in 1830, plywood became commercially available some four decades later and was initially used for drawer bottoms and case furniture. Plywood and later particle board furniture has the ability to be moulded into shapes and more recent synthetic materials have the added advantage of being moulded into composite curved shapes. Bauhaus designers in pre war Germany famously developed utilitarian styles of furniture, in these materials. Furniture of composite and synthetic materials profit greatly from decoration with applied wooden carvings to soften and enrich their appearance and perceived value.

The Age of Revival – 1980’s on.


Recreating the tradition of carved wooden decoration since 1986, the Wild Goose Carvings range of hand carved embellishments includes decorative wooden corbels in a wide range of styles and sizes. Corbels first appeared as a protruding stone support for the battlements of a fortified medieval castle. The word 'corbel' is itself derived from the French language word for a raven seen to perch there. Now used as a traditional support for fireplace mantels, kitchen, work or service counters or as decoration below an arch or above a doorway.


Today your home can become a part of a traditional revival. With fully secure online facilities, you can purchase our corbels and carvings of traditional design in a choice of; Classical, Victorian, Art Deco, Celtic or English country style which are complimented by a wide range of matching component and easily applied embellishments termed 'appliqués', since they are easy to apply.
The comprehensive range of over 350 reproduction antique corbels, decoratives and furniture components is available in a choice of four woods; Pinewood (genus Pinus Excelcius), Chinese oak (an environmentally sustainable lookalike substitute for English or American oak that is generically a brown Ash), North American cultivated Maple and Cherry wood. All carvings are immediately available from stock and can be supplied in repeat quantity as required.



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carved pine, oak and maple corbels
carved pine, oak and maple fire surrounds
carved pine, oak and maple architectural
carved pine, oak and maple corinthian
carved pine, oak and maple features
applique in carved pine, oak and maple
carved pine, oak and maple acorns
carved pine, oak and maple flowers
carved pine, oak and maple vineleaves
carved pine, oak and maple bed fittings
carved pine, oak and maple ornamentals
knobs and legs carved in pine, oak and maple
carved pine, oak and maple friezes
carved pine, oak and maple mouldings