Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1897-08-20


For Plaster Cast worIS-A Peep Into
One of the Noiselcss Workshops.
Chicago holds place in the world Of
art which very few people dream she pos
sessos. The western metropolis is the cen
ter of trade and the market for all the
decorative plaster cast work which Is used
In the country. Chicago not only supple.
the Mississippi valley and the west with
copies in plaster from the masters, but
nearly all of the east.
The trade in Chicago has an able com
petitor in Milwaukee in the kind of work
turned out, but no such amount of work
comes from the cnsting shops of that sister
city as is turned out here. However, the
combined trade of Milwaukee and Chicago
manages to supply the demand of all the
United States and even that of England
The dirty Italian peddler who goes from
+ house to house selling his little plaster
Venuses and Dianns did not learn his
trade in sunny Italy. 1t is not an impor.
tation from his native shores. The pretty
copies of the beautiful and fantastic in art
are not breath of some great foreign ar
tistic atmosphere brought here by the
scum of Roman and Milanose streets. The
q plaster works of art on sale in Chicago are
hands and native thought.
There are at least a dozen firms in opera.
ion here The work which they furnish
or the public includes not only the little
statuettes, has -relicfs and busts which are
amiliar to the eyes of pedestrians in shor
windows, but also the extensive decorative
work in plaster used in the construction
)t buildings.
The trade of the decorative plasterer, as
his kind of artist is known, is simple, yet
interesting. The men employed are divid
Rd into two classes, the molders or sculp
ors, and the casters.
The sculptors are men of ability They
perform the most important work in clay.
They originate the designs and copy clay
igures from the great masters. With def
ouch and idoalistic thought they fashion
beautiful bits of work from the wet clay
is work Of upbuilding, of fashionina
rom the lifelcss clay the laughing head
II woman or the sardonical grin of a
aun. The sculptor works only in clay
nd models with his blunt, fiat pencil
Ercat panels and strips of graceful, decora
i've work for the interior finish of build.
ngs. On him hangs the responsibility and
N him depends all the success of the flu
ure work. He Is the modelcr of designs
MN NlIO lld0tNItlS uSt hS INC IuulrlCcs
f innumerable copies.
When the model in clay is completed, it
laid aside for IS hours TO dry. During
hat time the water used in softening the
lay to make it mallcable cvaporatos leav
ng the work of the sculptor almost as
ara and durable rs marble. This stage in
laster work is called clay modelling.
The design is now ready for the casters.
he clay model is brushed with shcllnc and
repaired for the covering Of gelatin glue
nd the making of the glue mold The
lodel Is covered first with so called
bell This is made of plaster and fits over
be model like the full high cover of flat
lad plate An aperture is then made in
be shell as it rests upon the model and
nto this aperture the liquid gelatin glue
poured. 1t flows around the intricate
esign of the model and is left overnight
harden.
In the morning, when the shell is re
loved this glue mold has hardened and
an itself be lifted entire from the clay
podel beneath. 1t bears on its undersde
n exact imprint of the model, and it has
pc consistency of a piece Of soft india
lbber. 1t is durable, however, and serves
the mold from which the plaster casts
hemselves are made.
rSHclhllS IdISc cay lHbuClS are taken
sections, so that the glue mold is OF
manageable size. Into it is poured the
quid plaster, forming the head or arm OF
CURE in plaster the exact counterpart of
be clay
The third stage, that of pouring the
aster into the glue mold, requires Ger.
PIN amount of deXtcrity and neatness,
the material hardens quickly, and nc
me can be lost. When "A model is made
sections, the plaster imitation is glued
|gether to make the whole and then GOV
ed with shellac TO protect it from soilinR
the dust and SCOT Of the atmosphere
II The workshop of the plaster molders is
curious place. No machinery whatever
used in the work. No gigantic wheels
+, buzzing saws make the room noisy
tn their revolutions. Over in one corner
and stove and a big boiler, in which
+ 7nenU, besides the tiny tools, which is !