Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-05-21


Heroic seulture and the depicting of ideals is
not a common practice in these days. Indeed,
Hawthorne says that the possibilities Of sculture
have been exhausted. and Except for the exc
oution of portrait busts sculpture has no longer
any right to claim place among the living arts
There Ia no new group nowadays nor new atti-
tude. nor anything new except in the tailoring
line and the detail of coat seams, buttonholes
and shoes ties"
THE WORK OF PoRrRAITuRE.
But in the work Of porsraiture the artist still
finds enough to do, for there are always philan-
thropists, statesmen and railroad msgnates who
themselves or their friends think are deserving
OF preservation In some form more endu. ing
than mere paint and canvas, though az the
author above quoted further declares, the ma
terial will in many cases prove more lasting
than the reputation it was intended to COM
meTnofate, and In few generations with many
Of the hkenesses posterity will not know what
to do, though IL will doubtless find that they
will build into walls and burn into quicklime
Just as well as though they had never been
blocked into the guise Of human heads.
HOW THE CLAY MODEL Is MADE.
But to return to the clay model, which may
be considered the basis Of all the artists work.
1t il made, whenever possible, from the living
model in plastic clay with the aid of the fingers
and few simple wooden or horn knives. When
the subject is dead or absent death masks and
photographs are the artists guides While this
work is perhaps not the highest order of art, it
requires more than mere initiative faculty of
eye and hand. The moods and Temperament of
the subject have to be studied and emphasized
TO save the work from degeneratinS from liv-
ing likeness into mere dead model.
The final marble is not copied from the CLAW.
however, as that is an unsatisfactory substance
from which to work, and between the two sta ges
of the work a plaster cast has 70 intervene,
But from IN artistic point Of view there is a
liveliness and expression about the first CLAW
model that the cast never shows, which has
given rise to the artists saying that the 'clay
is the life, plaster the death and marble the
resurrection"
MAKING A PLASTER CAST.
For taking the plaster cast what is known as
''piece mold" Is made. The cast is divided
into sections, over each of which plaster mold
from two to four inches thick is made. These
when fastened together form a hollow mold
into which the fluid plaster Of paris is poured
When this hardens the outer crust is broken
away and the white, firm cast stands forth ready
to be copied by the carver. Some artists do
their own carving from the first rough block.
but in most cases the rougher work Is turned
over to q skilled mechanic. who chips the work
down almost to size, leaving only what IL known
as the skin finish to be done by the artist. In
deed, such is the skill of some of the italian
workmen that they will turn out finished copy
Of any Gust given to them without the artist 90
much IS touching ohisel.
THE POINTER.
But this copying Of the cast in stone is bv no
means matter Of the eye alone. 1t is measured
with mathematical accuracy in every part by an
ingenious device known as pointer This,
as will be seen from the cut, is an upright rod
standing on firm base and carrying two sliding
- 1.un
which con be turned and clamped in any direc-
tion and like the claw of lobster, can be made
10 toaeh any point within its own radius. In
the end Of each Of the pointer arms is Get a
needle graduated 70 frsctions Of an inch and
moving in . collar with o set screw 20 that il
can Be clamped at any point.
The plaster cast that is to be copied, resting
on a, square pedestal, is placed ON a revolving
platform like the turntable Of . railroad, and
Alongside OF II, festing similar pedestal, IL
placed The rough block of marble from which the
statue is ~ be made. The pointer 10 set between
| to read to zero and brought to bear on some
prominent point OF the cast, say the nose. The
lower arm 3 adjusted to an arbitrary point ON
the pedestal, and the corresponding point is
found on the pedestal bearing the marble block.
The pointer arms are then swung round Till the
lower one bears on the mark and the upper one
touches the marble block, which Il larger, Of
ceurss, than TIE finished STATUE, aad the
distance which the graduated needle u
pushed back through its collar shows
how msch Of this Surplus or ssstoch''
= e = cat away 70 reach ne point where the
mefhed, aad with the bow driA hole ID drilled
into the block 70 within one-sixteenth of what
is to be tie finished surface Of tbs statue, a.
shoxn BY the reading OF the needle. Several
sfnllnf points ate then taken over eli the prom
iAsAe 3sasafss ind We Soth u rouehine Sas b