Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1894-10-24
A BRONZE STATUE.
INTERESTING DESCRIPTION OF HOW
A BIG ONE is CAST.

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The Mold Sometimes Consists of Two Thou
sand Pieces, All of Which Have to Be
Taken Apart Several Times-A Casting
That Took Three Years.
Few have any idea of the difficulty of
casting large bronze statue. The pop
ular idea is that molten bronze is pour
ed into a mold, and then when the
metal has cooled the mold is knocked
off, and the statue is complete. How
much more elaborate is the process may
be gathered from the following descrip-
tion of the casting of large bronze
statue in one piece:
After the plaster model has been OBJ
tanned from the artist it is laid upon
frame and built up all over with red
dish sand, which is peculiarly fitted for
the purpose because of its cohesiveness
when worked and of its stony hardness
when dry. 1t is imported from France,
the best coming from Fontenoy aux
Roses, about 16 miles from Paris
This building up process is not so
easy as it sounds, for the sand has to be
applied in little chunks varying in size,
but all fitting snugly together so that
they can be taken apart when the i'm
preston is complete and the mold is dry.
In an elaborate casting there will be
from 1, 500 to 1000 of these pieces, all
of which must be accurately adjusted, OF
the casting will be imperfect. The most
noticeable feature in bronze foundry is
the number of workmen employed in
cutting up little chunks of the sand and
carefully and tenderly fitting them
around the plaster model There work
men, by the way, are imported along
with the sand, the majority of them be-
gin French.
The blocks Of sand being dry, they
are carefully taken off the cast ore by
one and as carefully reftted. This is
the mold. 1t is then filled with clay,
and when the clay is dry the little
blocks forming the mold are again un-
fitted, and facsimile of the plaster cast
is obtained. Then comes the most deli
cate part of the work. The clay model
has to be reduced by scraping until it is
an exact but slightly smaller copy of the
plaster model, for a quarter of an inch
has to be taken off its entire surface,
and the difficulty of doing this can be
imagined, especially when the subject
is at all ornate. Assuming the reduc-
tion of the clay ''core, as it is technic-
ally termed, to be satisfactory, the core
is introduced into the mold, which has
again been put together, and there is
naturally space of quarter of an
inch between the exterior of the core
and the interior of the mold. The core
is staid with iron rods so that it re-
mains rigid in the center of the mold,
and the glowing, molten bronze is pour
ed in from the top and completely fills
up the space between the core and mold.
After it has cooled the mold is removed,
and the clay interior extracted, and the
statue is revealed somewhat rough, it is
true, but very nearly as it will appear
before the public.
The Astor doors of Trinity church
took three years to complete. a good
contrast to which may be found, as re-
CARDS time of execution, in the Wash
ington statue in front of the subtreas-
ury ON Wall street, which was complet-
ed in six weeks and two days. Speaking
of the Washington statue, every one
has noticed the bright color, or ''patina, ,"
as it is called, of the legs of the Father
of His Country, while the rest of the
body is as grimy as all the other bronze
statues in New York city. This is due
to the rubbing of the shoulders of street
boys and loafers. The founders of the
statue say they would make them a
handsome present if they would rub the
rest of the great mans body, for a ''pa-
tina'' acquired in this way is superior
to any that can be given artifcially.
The statue that gave the most trouble
to the founders and at the same time
is one of the most artistic and beautiful
specimens of bronze casting in the coun-
try is Mr.. J. @. A. Wards statue of
President Garfield in Washington. The
nude figures around the statue are re-
sponsible for the difficulty of casting.
The alloy commonly used for statue
casting consists of 80 parts copper,
tin and 3 zinc, that used by the ancient
Greeks being so copper and 20 tin AT
the time of Pausanius they were tho
first to do any bronze casting. Previous
ly articles of ornament were made by |
sheets of bronze together in the
same way that the statue of Liberty is |
New York World
To him who is penetrated by true |
even the briefest precept is |
sufficient, and common precept, to re-
mind him that he should be free from
grief and fear. For example, says
Homer:
Leaves-so,ne the wind scatters on the ground |
So is the race of men.
Leaves also are thy children, and |
leaves, too, are they who cry ont as if |
they We're worthy of credit, and bestow |
lAGlr praise, or, on the contrary, curse, |
Or secretly blame and sneer, and leaves !
in like manner are those who shall re- |
ceive and transmit mans fame t. |
for all such things as these
are produced in the season of spring."
rs the poet says. Then the wind casts
them down. Then the forest produces
other leaves in their places. But brief |
existence is common to all things, and
yet thou avoidest and pursuest all things