Hollow carving

Wooden sculptures are often hollowed or partly hollowed in order to avoid strain resulting from the different rates of shrinkage in heartwood and sapwood. stone is also hollowed out, but to enable it to be supported (especially in the case of a bust, for example) or to be lifted and transported more easily. Ceramic sculptures are made hollow, chiefly to ensure that no part is much thicker than any other; such differences in thickness would create tensions in the clay during firing, as the clay shrinks in cooling.