ABSTRACT OF RESEARCHES INCLUDING THERAPEUTIC ENVIRONMENT, CULTURAL LANDSCAPE AND WOOD CARVING IN VERNACULAR ENVIRONMENT

 

Classification of Timber Species for Malay Woodcarving in Peninsular Malaysia
 

ISMAIL SAID
[email protected]
Dept. of Landscape Architecture
Faculty of Built Environment
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
81310 Skudai, Johor Bahru

 

Abstract

Woodcarving is an art and craft practiced by Malay craftsmen in Peninsular Malaysia since thirteen century. Basically, the craft is removing part of timber from a board or block following the configuration of carving motives. The Malay craftsmen utilize four types of motives, namely, flora, cosmos, geometry and calligraphy. The woodcarving is an art because the ability of a craftsman to translate his idea into a tangible product. There are 44 kinds woodcarving product that can be classified into four types including weapon, components of house or boat, utensil and musical instrument. The Malay craftsmen utilized 21 species of tropical timber which are obtained from hill dipterocarp forest, secondary forest, and house compound including the orchard. This paper will discuss six factors that influence the selection of timber species for woodcarving material. The factors are (i) source of timber, (ii) characteristic of timber, (iii) type of carving, (iv) Malay cultural values, (v) skill of craftsman, and (vi) spirit of wood. These factors are important to those who are interested to know and learn about timber for the construction of Malay woodcarving.