Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-09-10
HOW scULPToRs WORK.

of New York, and watched him at work
on his colossal statue, The Continental
Soldier. l was the only visitor, and Mr..
Mcdonald talked to ME as he worked,
explaining in detail the various stages by
which the sculptor's idea is worked out of
zhapeless mass of clay into form and
beauty. Let me tell you about it l am
sure you will find it interesting. Mr..
Mcdonald Is not worker in marble; he
confines himself to statues of clay which
are afterwards cast in bronze, and it is that
branch Of sculpture which I propose to
describe. The first step in the work is to
make a model Of the intended statue, say
he calls the intellectual" and to it he
gives long and careful study. Every feat
ure must have life and expression, every
limb strength and character. When it is
finished, he prepares for the statue by
building strong skeleton framework of
iron, and on this he lays the clay, making
a rough outline Of the figure. To fashion
this unsightiy trunk into the shape of a
man, he begins at the feet and works up
ward, calling into service
NUDE LIVING MODEL,
Who poses hour after hour, with necessary
resting periods, in the desired position.
Every muscle and tendon il the model is
reproduced in the clay, for the statue is
always made nude, whether it is to be
clothed when finished or not. Over certain
parts of the body whose proportions must
be carefully preserved, the artist spreads a
thin layer of highly colored clay, SO that
in subsequently working down the drapery
with his tools, he will not cut into the fig
ure-the colored clay warns him to stop.
When the nude figure is finished, drapery
or 'clothing is put on the living model pre-
cisely as it is to appear on the statue, and
ne is made to pose again in the required
position. The sculptor now proceeds to
drape the statue by laying on clay where
drapery is necessary and working it into
shape as deity and easily as you wonld
write paragraph, except in the matter of
the time consumed. If he could get along
as rapidly as l do with the description of
it he would make oceans of money, but
hard labor and tender solicitude for from
eight to twelve months. Night after night
as work is suspended the figure IL carefully
covered with damp cloths and sort of
sentry box made of strips of wood and oil
CtObu Is pun over IL " hCGIJ GuS clay III
proper condition for work the next day.
But the modelling and the cutting and the
scraping come to an end at last, and the
huge, dark gray figure stands before its
maker all
RADIANT WITH LIFE AND GENIUS.
His eye kindles and his heart throbs with
pardonable pride as he looks upon its beau
tiful proportions-the work of his hands
and an irresistible feeling of sadness comes
over him as he thinks that in few days it
must be knocked into shapeless clay again.
But must not get ahead of my story. The
sculptor's idea is materiahzed IL the finished
clay statue, but it is to live in imperishable
bronze, and the mechanical part of the
work now begins His assistants apply
liquid plaster Of Paris to the figure with
brushes, beginning at the bottom and care
fully filing every fold and crevice. The
plaster hardens rapidly, and coat after coat
is put on until it is about two inches thick.
This plaster forms the mold in which the
model for the bronze foundry is to be cast,
and it must be made in sections, so that it
can be readily removed from the clay figure
when done. To accomplish this, rows OF
little wooden pegs are inserted around the
figure, where it Is desired to have the joints
in the mold, and on them is placed strip
of clay half an inch thick and two inches
wide. The plaster is put on up to this
strip, the upper edge of each section is
doubled, the pegs are removed, and the
plaster allowed TO harden. The strip of
clay is then taken of, and the edge Of the |
plaster covered with shellac to prevent the |
next section from adhering as the brushes
apply it. This work is continued until the
whole figure is covered, and after standing
a day or two to harden, the mold is re-
moved by sections. 1t separates easily
from the clay figure, and the latter, having
served its purpose and given the sculptor a
matrix for his plaster model, is
BROKEN INTO sHAPELEss FRAGMENTS
OF clay, to be used again when needed.
The sculptor now covers the inner surface
OF the mold with shellac to prevent the
plaster from sticking, fits together nicely
and firmly all the parts belonging to the
figure and the plinth, the statues foot piece,
except those for the arms, which for con.
venience are cast separately, and pours in
liquid plaster of Paris by the bucketful
until the mold is full. In two days the
plaster hardens and the mold is taken off.
1t only remains for him to join the arms to
the figure, and he does this by wettipg the
surfaces to be welded and holding the arms
in position little while, when they become
firm and solid. The original clay figure
has now been reproduced in plaster of
Paris, the latter is sent to the foundry
where the bronze statue Is to be cast, and
the sculptor's work is done. But let US
follow the plaster model and see how the
foundryman goes about his part Of the
work He makes mold for casting by
laying moist clay in small pieces over the
model, cut to fit neatly and compactly and
so arranged that one supports another.
Pressure upon the clay gives an exact i'm
preston OF every mark and crevice of the
figure on the inner surface Of these pieces,
and heat is then employed to dry and
harden them. They are then taken off and
built up into a perfect mold of the figure,
the pieces being fitted together pretty
much as boy puts together diseected |
picture puzzle. A core OF sand is put in the
mold-for the statue is to be hollow-and |
little holes are drilled in it near the bot
tom to permit the air to pass out as
THE RED HOT METAL
Is poured in; otherwise there would be an
e8 plOSiOu auu BSLGIdi SulsbsiAiuS VI luluBo. !
Even with all the precautions which skill
and experience have taught foundrymen to |
use, explosions sometimes occur. When
the mold has been prepared, as above de-
scribed, it is inclosed in a large iron flask
or box and lowered by means of crane
into cellar near the furnace which con-
tains the molten bronze The stream of
cleaning metal is then turned on, and it
finds its way into every part OF the mold. |
The metal cools in day or two, the iron
flask is raised from the cellar the mold is
taken off in pieces rs it was built up, and |
the statue is finished off and shipped TO its |
destination. 1t is worthy of note that |
American foundries can cast bronze statue |
cheaper, quicker and better than it can be |
done abroad. Pure bronze is 90 per cent. |
copper and ten per cent. tin, but many |
foreign countries use lead or some alloy on
account of the high price of copper in their
This spurious bronze is easily |
detected by its dull, dingy appearance.
Marble is no longer used, or rarely, for out
door statues on account of It's liability to
1t cannot stand great changes |
of temperature and gradually crumbles
away, while bronze is imperishable. IN. |
Y. Correspondence Phila. Press.
A MOTHERS EXPERIENCE shall be |
obliged to kill my children or go to house. |
keeping" was the somewhat surprising |
assertion made by q young mother the |