New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-09-01
4 DELICATE AND TEDIOUS YORK.

CASTING A BRONZE STATUE INVOLVES PAINsrAK-
ING EFFORT FOR MONTHS AND EVEN YEARS
There "a a great deal more difficulty in casting
larg. bronze statue than might be supposed. The
popular idea II that molten bronze is poured into
mould then, when the metal has cooled the mould
is knocked off and the statue Is complete much
more elaborate process is necessary and the opera
tlon IL one recurring the greatest to the
smallest details
Nearly all statues the most elaborate are
cast in one piece instead of In sections
formerly the practice After the plaster model has
been obtained from the sculptor 1t is laid upon
wooden frame, and built up all over with a peculiar
kind OF reddish sand. obtained from France. The
best sand is imported from Fontenay aux Roses,
about sixteen miles from Paris. When this sand
Is worked II possesses great cohesveness and 1t
becomes OF a stony hardness when dry. The build
ing-up process is not so easy as Il seems, 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 mould is dry. In an
elaborate casting there will be from l,oO to 2VO
OF these pieces. all OF which must be accurately
adjusted or the casting will be imperfect
The most noticeable feature in a bronze foundry
Is the number OF workmen employed In cutting lit
tie chunks OF the sand and. after numbering them'
carefully fitting them around the plaster model.
Nearly all the workmen French, for some OF
the finest bronze foundres in the world are In
paris
When the blocks Of sand are dry. they are care
fully taken off one by one, and reftted without the
plaster model This constitutes the mould which Is
then filed with clay. AS soon as the clay Is dry
the books forming the mould are again removed
and clay fac-simile OF the plaster cast IL OBJ
tanned The work 10 be done on the clay model is
Of a delicate nature. and upon Its excellence the
success OF the casting depends. The model has
10 be reduced by scraping until II is an exact. but
slightly smaller copy OF the plaster cast. For
large statue. about quarter OF an inch mas ID De
taken off the entire surface. and the difcuity or
doing this accurately when the subject Is at all
ornate may be imagined The thickness removed
from clay model represents the thickness OF 'he
metal In the completed statue
II the reduction OF the clay core as II Is tschni-
cally termed is satisfactory, the mould Is again
put together, this time with the core inciosed'
There is then a space OF a quarter OF an men De-
tween the core and the mould. The core is stayed
with iron rods In such way as TO hold 1t rgidly
in the centre Of the mould. leaving the interval
between the core and the sides Of the mould exactly
eoual all round The molten bronze Is then poured
In from the top completely filling up the space De-
tween the core and the mould. After the metal
cools the mould is removed and when the clay m
terror has been taken out. the statue IS complete
with the exception OF the fnshng touches h sss
sculptor and consist OF smoothing on rough places
All All these operations take considerable time. and
some OF the more ambitious pieces take years 10 70,
finish. The Astor doors OF trinity CnuTch tooh
three years. One Of the most rapid castings ever
made in this country the statue or George
Washington In front OF the Sub-Treasury. which
was finished In six weeks and two days
Every one has noticed the bright color or
palma as It liz called. OF the legs OF this statue.
while the rest OF the body is as grim as all the
other statues In New-York City. This Is due 20
the rubbing OF the lower part OF the statue by the
shoulders OF the newsboys and street urchins who
gather round |, in the evening. The founders OF
the statue would be greatly obliged TO the boys II
they would rub the rest OF the great mans body
any which can be given in the shop
The most elaborate statue In the country IL per.
hans ] O. A. Wards statue OF President Garfield
In Washington The nude figures and ornamenta..
ton around the statue were responsible for much
OF the difficulty in casting. In statue casting the
alloy commonly used consists OF ninety parts cop-
per seven tin and three zinc The ancient Greeks
used an alloy OF eighty parts copper ana twenty
tin Bronze casting was first practised by them az
the time OF pausanias; previously uohze stA'ue ;
and ornaments were made by riveting sheets OF
bronze together In the way that the statue or
Liberty Is constructed.