Hawking Kings Chess Set on Fruitwood Chessboard

The Vegetable Kingdom has provided carvable soft woods, like the used in the Hawking Kings Chess Set and Fruitwood Chessboard of the 1800s.

Carving, the shaving away of raw material to arrive at a finished shape or form, is one of the most ancient and universal means of visual expression. Carving is accomplished by using tools with cutting edges of harder material than that of the material being carved. Typically, this has been types of stone (flint or obsidian) or alloys of iron or steel.

The carving of "soft" materials such as amber, coral, meerschaum, some species of wood, ivory, tortoise, and "soft stones" such as alabaster, soapstone and jadeite, is accomplished primarily using small, hand-held chisels, rasps, files, and blades.