The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1890-11-15

80 , - h 4 ~ ~ a ~ .It
I'VE gst our plaster casls OF cele.
DRAFTED 3 ttues and other art work
from the great "a ueoume of the world
IN Rome. Berlin. Paris and London,'
said tho curator Of the Corcornn gal
lery 70 Z Washington Star Importer
I'm those great instit utlons- perhaps
not more than half q dozen In number
--are gathered practically oil OF the
important original antiques In exist
ence. The only way In which It Is
possible to secure reproductions Of
such priceless relics Is to obtain per-
mission from the authorities In charge
Of the museums to take casts. Not
always Is such liberty easy to sccnre.
You must remember that art works OF
the sort are absolutely irreplaceabIe,
and. inasmuch as there is always some
danger incidental to the making oil
casts. no matter how carefully tho
thing Is done. you will readily under.
stand how 1t Is that reluctance is apt
to be felt in allowing the thing to be
done. Not .infrequently 1t has hap
peued that the taking Of q single cast
was permitted. but repetition OF the
process refused. simply because it was
not thought desirable to take any more
chances. There would be no object in
taking second cast were it not that a
mold wears out after while and will
not reproduce the original satisfacto-
rily. 1t Is fact that nearly all of tho
casts used in art schools for drawing
from and such purposes are casts made
from casts and not from originals.
Casts exhibited in galleries. however,
ought always to be first-hand. because
the secondhand ones lack the finest
sculptured outline"
How do you procure the castsP"
1--WE send to firms in the cities !
have mentioned, which regularly make
business Of supplying things of tho
sort, having arrangements OF conf
dense with the great museums. If Il
Is q statue from the British Museum
that We want replica of we are
obliged to send to a dealer named
Brecciani. who is the only person per-
mitted 10 make casts of art objects in
that institution. Brecciani aud the
other dealers in this line of business
publish regular annual catalogues.
which they send around to art galleries
and merchants everywhere. price lists
accompanying. According to their
schedules. bust of Caesar is worth
$3.50, u fragment of an ancient frieze
the same amount. reproduction of
the celebrated Disk Thrower' $37. u
caraytid $50. and a whole lmrpy Toni,
$45. The last, of course. is Il par,ic-
ularly elaborate piece. When we want
mr. I'M In, t,a <sf
on an order, just as for any either kind
of merchandise. Tho making OF u
cast from statue is an exceedingly
difficult affair. For the head and face
alone fifty or sixty pieces are required
to make the mold; the ear will take
twelve pieces. Work is began. say.
by placing one scrap Of moist plaster
of paris over q small section of the
face, taking care not to cover any
more surface than the plaster when
hardened can readily be withdrawn
from without breaking. When this
piece has become hard 1t is permitted
to remain sticking to the statue. while
another scrap of plaster is applied to
an adjoining section OF surface. In
this way the task slowly progresses
until the entire statue is covered with
the hard plaster. the bits being sepa-
rated from each other by n sort Of
shellac on their edges, which prevents
them from sticking together. After
this has been accomplished 1t only
remains to remove the pieces of plas-
ter. which fit together. into the shape
of the desired mold. Probably the
finest collection Of antique sculpture
in existence is in Rome. Tae drawing
books sold for children are designed
by artists of more or less merit and
published by the great stationers."