Sculpture

(from sculpo, to carve) includes all carved work, in wood, ivory, stone, marble, metal, or other material; and also those works formed in a softer material not requiring carving, such as wax or clay. It includes Statuary, carved ornament, and Glyptics or incised gems and cameos. From the practice of preparing the model in clay, sculpture is also called the plastic art. A most remarkable incident in the history of sculpture, is the fact that the most ancient specimens are carved of the hardest stones, such as basalt, granite, and porphyry; and that this work was done at a period antecedent to the introduction of steel tools. (Consult Redford’s Ancient Sculpture.)