Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1888-12-19
ABOUT WAX FIGURES.


Z chiease Reporter Erplsias How rhey
Are Modelled and Finished
no or three men were at work. ono
stirring steaming mixture In an iron
pot over an oil stove. another daubing
plaster over arnold. Headless corpscs
wero cverywherc. They stood on plat
forms. underneath tsblcs and i'm cor
| ners- In n small ante-room n whole
collection was piled up. The limbs OF
some werc lcontortei and bent rs
though in awful agony. The active
young superintendent opened boxes
and cupboards and drew out hcads of
mon and women. old aud young. beau
tifui and ugly. some without eyes or
hair. others looking startling real.
Prom another set of drawers no pulled
dozens OF hands and laid them beside
| the heads.
There." said he ..arc all the parts
OF an image which are made out of
wax. There is no such thing as wax
| hgurc. The figures-thc torsos-arc
made out of papier machc A wax
torso even when IL IL lined with an iron
framework does not give IA satisfac-
tory effect The process OF making
the papier mache bodies is precisely
that of the heads and hands"
| And what is thatP"
"A work that requires seven persoss
To complete. The first step is To make
u miniature model i'm clay OF the figure
or group that Is TO be represented.
From IL we get some idea of the effect.
When all details are decided upon the
sculptor models the figure lifc-sizc In
clay. the same ~ would be done II Il
were to be chiseled In marble or cast i'm
bronze. The hands are omitted. They
are modelled from life always. Next
the molder prepares plaster paris
cast In sections from the model. and
into this the wax Is poured by the wax
worker. IL the result does not satisfy
the sculptor the head is rcmelted No
attempt Is ever made To change head.
The mold Is simply broken up and n
new model made. The head goes next
20 "A woman. who inserts the hair, eve
brows, eyclashes and beard. A little
instrument with two or three sharp
needle points Is used for this. She
works rapidly. more so than any OF
the others. The sculptor, after the
| glass eyes are put into the socket. then
takes the head and finishes IT,
Its color is pale pink, and he
| gives 10 the hue OF the
human face and by various means
makes its surface look like skin.
Meanwhile, the costumer has been at
work dressing the torso and the car
pcnter fixing IL upon N PEDESTAL The
head and hands are joined 10 Il and II
Is ready for exhibition.
How long does all this talkeP''
'1t depends upon tho sculptor en-
tirely. Figures nowadays are mostly
portraits. and in modelling one. es-
| pecially OF "a contemporary individ-
ual. the sculptor Is likely 10 make half
"A dozen models before the correct one
is hit. The figure OF Thurman. for
instance, required great deal OF pre-
liminary study. The sculptor had To
see him several times. TO observe most
| closely various details. such as the
i expression OF his face in varying moods
the size OF his head. color of his eyes
| can any man tell the color OF
his nearest friends eyesP-the
way his hair was arranged, his
weight. carriage, etc Little details.
such "a the ear. occupy the artist a
day sometimes. He can not be hurried
Sometimes two weeks is required TO
model single figure. No. sculptors
rarely model direct fror. life. except
in the case OF the hands, although In
stances are known OF their having
done so. They prefer photograph
and rely upon their memories for de-
tails in making a head. But they al
| ways mold hands from life No artist
in the world can exactly represent that
wonderful human member, with all It's
thousand lines. creases. aud its OK
pressions-for the hands have ex-
pressions. Figures cost as high as
1900. The hair on the head OF the
figure OF Mrs. Langtry cost SO. Hair
is always an important and expensive
item. So is the costume. ~ Chicago
| Tribune.