Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object. The phrase may also refer to the finished product, from individual scupltures to hand-worked mouldings composing part of a tracery.
Some of the finest extant examples of early European wood carving are from the middle ages in Germany, Russia, Italy and France.