Name Ike Carpenter | Role Woodworker | |
Ike Carpenter is an American woodworker born in Trenton, South Carolina who won the 1995 South Carolina Folk Heritage Award for his third-generation legacy of woodworking in traditional and modern genres.
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Notable Works
Carpenter's woodcarvings include spoons, bowls, walking sticks and "whatnot" items that are functional as well as decorative. He is best known for his traditional "ball and chain" or "ball and cage" pieces, intricately carved entirely out of a single piece of wood that has not been sawed, glued or pieced together, designed to show off the carver’s skill. In addition to learning about woodcarving from his family growing up, Carpenter apprenticed for eight years with a master cabinetmaker to learn the art of traditional furniture-making, shaping felled trees into finely-crafted furniture using only primitive hand tools, such as the axe, adze, and shaving horse. He actively shares his woodworking knowledge and skills in local public schools, and has given presentations at Drayton Hall, at the McCormick Heritage Festival, and at historical event reenactments. He is also involved in the South Carolina Art Commission’s Master Craftsman Traditional Arts Apprentice Program which allows a master craftsman to pass his tradition on to an apprentice.
Honors
In addition to winning the 1995 South Carolina Folk Heritage Award, the significance of his Carpenter family's woodworking legacy was celebrated by the University of South Carolina's McKissick Museum in Columbia, South Carolina in 2004 with an exhibit called "Considerable Grace", showcasing five generations of Carpenter family woodcarvings.
Personal
Carpenter's family has been in Edgefield County, South Carolina since 1802; his grandfather was known throughout the Edgefield area as a carpenter, and his father took up woodcarving at the age of 15 and added that skill set to the family tradition, which continues with Carpenter's daughter and granddaughter.