, 1891-03-27
WHAT WAX WORKS COST
They Range in Price All the Way from 8
ns- a Dummy to SIS ,OO for a Pope.

They Range in Price All the Way from IS
ns- n Dummy to sI5,OOO for "A Pope.
"Oh, yes" said MIR. Louis Tussaud, 81
think can tell you all about wax works
how they are made, dr-ased, and what they
cost. First of all you must get your sub
ject. This may be from a series of good
portraits, or the person represented may
give you a sitting, - in the case Of crimi-
nails you can go into court, ana in some
cases Ihave been permitted to stand among
the reporters while the condemned man
was being led to the scafTold.
"The best beeswax is used for the faces,
neck, arms and hands, which costs IS. Cd.
a pound, and it takes twenty pounds TO
model n mans face. while n woman's needs
thirty pounds, as the neck and shoulders
have TO be shown. Having got your face
you model it in clay. just as a sculptor,
with the hair included. Then you take
away the tresses OF the clay. and make a
model of the exact shape of the back OF
the head. The molder then take it in
hand. After one or two stages each part
Of the face is modelled, just like so many
pieces in a puzzle. and shortly after the
cast is ready to have the waN poured in,
One hour elapses, when you pour out the
center, leaving the head hollow, and at the
expiration Of another hour your face is
complete.
Each single hair is put in separately,
though when wigs are used they often cost
"a much as g each. The eyes inserted are
surgical optics, and cost a guinea a pair.
The body is OF composition, and in order
to get the outer garments to fit properly
every figure must have a complete suit OF
Undertaking A figure costs on the aver
age about Zoo, but in many cases much
more.
tF,r irstapra o,,,rt dras5ss ,,g. fu,r,
e350 to e5OO each. Henry VIII has been
fitted out in n suit Of original armor cost
ing goo. A group depicting a scene at
the Vatican with the pope cost E3,OOO, and
George III in his jubilee robes would run
into 5000.
Clothing Is important. When the model
Of her majesty in her dress as worn on the
day Of her jubilee was prepared the queen
lent the very things she wore on that day,
so that everything could be made exactly
ns the original, As to the clothes Of Grim
inals, l have known over a thousand
pounds to be paid for them. but nowadays
it Is not possible to get them. In one in.
stance-that of l.efroy-the very collar he
wore, with his name torn ont, so that lis
waSherwomau should not see It, was OBJ.
tanned.
at is not generally known that the cele-
brated picture 10y Sir George Hayter of the
Duke OF Wellington standing beside the
body Of Napoleon as he lay on his bed was
in reality the luke standing by a wax
model Of the French emperor, The duke
took a great interest in ~wRxworks, and
would often visit the exhibition OF old
Nine. Tussaud wA4n she was alive, stand.
ing at the bedside Of the representation Of
Napoleon, and always with his head un.
covered.
The bosom Of a sleeping beauty is made
to heave by clockwork placed inside, while
the roaring of the lions in the group OF
Daniel in the Lions Den,' so popular In
country fairs, is lone with a trumpet. The
country ~'waxworks,' TO speak paradox.
ically, areDot wax Mt all. but are in reality
composition, brown paper and plaster.
They cost about g. apiece, and by chang
ing a dress and "A wig will be made TO repre-
sent anybody between an Archbishop OF
Canterbury and the Lord Mayor Of Lon.
on.'"-London Tit-Bi.s.