Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-07-22

O counterfeit pr sen +
| ment Of the living Gen.
Greedy Of arctic fame. 1t is a sort Of likeness
rather painfully striking, inasmuch as it re-
sembles in all essential respects a death mask
As 10 the case with death mask, the eyes are
closed and expression is lacking However, it
IL perfect reproduction of the features, save
for slight distortion caused by the plaster.
which pulls down the eyelids and the muscles
OF the cheeks. The mask is, in fact, cast of
the entire head, except that what might be
called the bottom" of it is left of to permit it
to be taken of whole.
The usual method in taking life mask is to
insert straws in the nostrils. while the plaster
u spread In soft state over the head But
theodore A. Mills, the sculptor. who made these
hkenesses, prefers to leave of the lower part Of
| the nose, thus enabling the person to breathe
more comfortably. The whole operation re-
quires only about fifteen minutes. 1t IL easy
| to add the bottom OF the nose afterward.
Such masks ought to be made Of all great men
while they are living. Thus their features
| might be accurately preserved for all time.
Abraham Lincon's death mask has been
great help to artists who have essayed to pro-
| duce statues and busts Of the martyr President.
| But in the last illness the face is apt to be
much altered, in contour Of feature as we'll as
| expression. The sculptor uses the mask only
| as D uOuei WIN u pnOtORropQ 10 nelp. no
| opens the eyes, relieves the drawn effect
caused by the plaster, and the result is hfe-like
itself.
Mime. Tussaud made a business Of taking
| masks from decapitated persons Of mark at the
guillotine Immediately after their heads were
cut of. Thus she obtained many licensees Of
great value for her museum. No sooner had
Marat been assassinated in his bath tub by
Charlotte Corday than she hurried to the scene
Of the tragedy and secured q cast Of his fea-
| lures in plaster on the spot. She was a woman
Of gentle BIRTH but became impoverished and
took this means Of building a fortune which
reached into the millions.
Sculptor Mills, who does work for the Ma
tional Museum, sometimes makes lay figures
for that institution by taking casts Of different
parts OF the body Of living man or woman
the arms, legs, hands, feet, &c.-and putting
them together, thus reproducing the entire in
dividuaL This he did with some Of the mani.
kins for the worlds fair in Chicago. which were
to represent naked savages in the chronological
exhibit. One Of them wore nothing but
breechclout and necklace Of beads. In this
way very life-like effect was obtained. The
joints where the parts met were filled in with
putty and painted over with the color OF the In
dividuals complexion. The only portion Of
the body which cannot be copied by casting Is
the abdomen, the movements OF which in
breathing would break the hardening plaster.
1t 10 q disadvantage to be q near relative Of a
sculptor. because he usually insists on utilizing
the anatomy OF his family for the purposes Of
his art
How They Are Made.
Most Of the big dolls shown at the museum
| to illustrate the races OF mankind. are clothed,
so that only the head and hands need have the
appearance OF flesh. In making one Of them
the first operation is to produce what is called
| sketch" in clay-that is to say, nude figure in
miniature. roughly done, in the attitude desired
for the msnikin, which is to be of full human
size. Using this as guide. pieces Of well-sea.
! soned inch plank are sawed out for the trunk
and legs. The legs are made all in one piece or
jointed, according as the figure is to stand sit,
knsel or lie down. To the body section q cross
| piece 10 fastened for the shoulders and another
Tor the hips. The four limbs are attached by
bolts or hinges, and the shape Of the trunk is
formed by ribs Of thick galvanized wire. Thus
| il produced the skeleton.
Now burlsp is stretched over the ribs and on
| the outside Of this layers Of excelsior are put
on by sewing and wrapping with Irvine. Over
all is sewn an outer skin of burlap. The legs are
| stuffed and wrapped In the same way, the feet
included. II remains to put on the head and
hands. The former is usually modelled by the
| sculptor from photograph Of an individual Of
| the race to be represented. The latter are
plaster casts Of real hands II the arms are to
mache, otherwise they are Of wood, padded as
above described. The head, neck, hands and
| any other exposed parts are painted suitably to
the complexion required. Then the head Is
sent to a wigmaker OF + street, who constructs
| for IL the proper kind Of chevelure. Such a
mankin will stand travel and handling well. the
plaster portions being packed separately. Once
made, TO dress it is easy enough. With pho
| tograph Of man woman Of any nation or
tribe and complete costume, there 10 no diff
Guilty in turning out doll in accurate likeness
| of the original.
| taki of ~ he
TO requires no little skill. Suppose. for
example, that hand is to be reproduced The
FIRST thing necessary is to carefully oil the skin
all over, in order to lay down the small hairs
on the surface. II this were not done the hairs
| would catch in the plaster and the removal of
the latter would be painful Next, the plaster
is spread over the hand. When partly dry it
! is cut so that it may be removed As soon as
1t has become hard it is taken off. OF course
there must be a good many pieces, and these
in the process. But the pieces have
to be glued together, each one being
oiled on the inside, the result being perfect
mold Of the hand Into this mold mixture
Of plaster and water is poured At the end Of
q few minutes it has hardened, and the mold
is gently broken. The coating of oil has pre-
| vented the plaster poured in from sticking to it,
and within is found an exact likeness Of the
| hand. Obviously, the mold is DESTROYED in
the operation. A foot or any other part of the
body Is done in the same way. A wel-known
citizen Of Philadelphia some years ago was so
proud Of his wifes shape that he had cast of
| her leg on exhibition in his drawing room.
| In making such casts various compositions
| are sometimes used in preference to plaster of
Paris. Some, Of recent invention, have the
"feel'' of flesh They have been utilized re-
| Gently by the National Museum in manufactur-
| ing counterfeit snakes. which are as flexible as
real live ones, thus adding to the realism of the
effect The same thing is done with fishes. but
| nearly all Of the models of finny creatures on
| exhibition cast in the money pulp from the
| treasury, which macerated paper cash
Freshly caught fishes are employed for produc-
| ing the molds, and the casts are painted in
| the highest style of art. This method ia much
| more satisfactory than stnfing fish SKINS For
| mounting small mammals the skin isssome times
| first removed, and cast of the fayed body is
| made in plaster. Over this the skin is then
| put, the proportions Of the animal being thus
exactly retained.
| Eskimo Dolls.
| The museum has a great collection of dolls OF
all nations. Most interesting Of them, perhaps
are those Of the Eskimo. Some of them are
made out Of ivory and others OF wood. One
curious specimen is from Point Barrow which
Is the most northerly point of Alaska. Its body
ia cut out of piece of driftwood plank and
the dress is of sealgut. Another is a trick doll
| which is made by string attachment TO twist
its head from side to side. These manixins af
ford An instructive study, because they illus
H., NF