Woad. A dye plant—Isatis tinctoria.
Wolf. In Egypt was worshipped at Lycopolis; it figures frequently among hieroglyphic signs. The Greeks had consecrated the wolf to Apollo, the Romans to Mars. In Christian (especially Spanish) art, an attribute of St. Vincent, in allusion to the legend that wild beasts were driven away from his body after his martyrdom, by a raven.
Fig. 699. Carved-wood mirror frame, belonging to Lord Stafford at Costessy.
Wood-carving. One of the most ancient manifestations of the art instinct of humanity is found in the very earliest relics of every nation. Especially in Egypt specimens remarkable for fidelity of representation have been recently disinterred, and stand in the Boulac Museum. Among Christian countries Germany is the most distinguished in this branch of art, but Holland and Belgium closely rival it in excellence and abundance of early specimens. Illustrious English carvers in wood were mostly of Dutch or German extraction. The most famous of them is Grinling Gibbons, employed by Sir Christopher Wren in the decoration of St. Paul’s Cathedral. He excelled in carving flowers and foliage.
Wood-engraving or Xylography. Box-wood is the only kind that can be used. The blocks when smoothed and polished are prepared for drawing on, by rubbing the polished surface with bath brick in very fine powder mixed with water. When this thin coating is dry, it is removed by rubbing the block on the palm of the hand; its only use is to make the surface less slippery. There are four descriptions of cutting tools used in wood-engraving. The graver is not very different from that used for copper-plate, but has the point ground to a peculiar form by rubbing on a Turkey stone. Eight or nine gravers, of different sizes, are generally required commencing with a very fine one, which is called the outline tool, and increasing in size or breadth. Tinting is cutting series of parallel lines, which, when engraved, form an even and uniform tint. For this process there is a distinct set of tools called tinting tools. Gouges of different sizes are used for scooping out the wood towards the centre of the block, and flat tools or chisels for cutting it away towards the edges. The earliest known wood-engraving, “The Virgin surrounded by four Saints,” is dated 1418. A print of it is in the Brussels Museum.
Wood-skin. An American name for a large canoe made of bark.
Woof. The weft, or cross-texture of fabrics.
Woolsack. The seat of the Lord Chancellor, in the House of Lords.
Working Drawings (Arch.) are enlarged portions of plans with details of a building, for the practical artificers to work from.