Wood carving is a form of working wood by means of a cutting tool held in the hand (this may be a power tool), resulting in a wooden figure or figurine (this may be abstract in nature) or in the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object। The phrase may also refer to the finished product, from individual sculptures to hand-worked mouldings composing part of a tracery।
For a complete history of wood carving, see the history of wood carving.
Some of the finest extant examples of early wood carving are from the Middle Ages in Italy and France, where the typical themes of that era were Christian iconography.
In England, many complete examples remain from the 16th and 17th centuries, where oak was the preferred medium in this case
Figural carving seems to have been widespread. The carving to represent one's god in a tangible form finds expression in numberless ways. The early carver, and, for that matter, the native of the present day, has found a difficulty in giving expression to the eye, and at times has evaded it by inlaying this feature with coloured material.