The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-05-12
MODELLING WAX FIGURES
The Artistic Side of Growing
Business in New York.
a Sculptor Employed With Artists,
Models to Pose for Him-Hor Plas-
ter Casts Arc Removed a Task
Requiring n Great Deal of Care.

|
The business of making wax figures has
In the last few years grown to considera-
bic proportions One of several manu-
featuring places is in downtown side
street.
Are wax figures modelled from lifeg'
was asked.
Good ones are. But there is custom
work and shoddy work in this line as in
every other. reputable concern has n
/ regular sculptor and artists models to
pose for him. We are at work now on
| woman's figure upstairs. You may see
how it's done If you'n go up"
On a revolving platform q heavy wire
frame was standing. and two assistants
| bent it according to the outlines of the
models form. Then they began to fill it
in solidly with wet clay. which the artist
nodded as nearly like her body as was
possible, from eye and ealiper measure
ments.
This clay model is taken only up to the
bust line, you understand the proprietor
said. There is a different process gone
through for obtaining cast OF the arms,
| when they are to be of wax; and the head
Is always obtained from photograph.
Now when this clay figure has been
nodded to suit the sculptor in every de-
tail, 1t is set aside to harden. Then the
boys pour a coat of plaster of paris
over it several inches thick. 1t sets
quickly and retains every line and curve
of the clay form. This plaster cast
must be removed and serve as the shell.
inside of which the papier mache figure
is made. or course, it is impossible TO
break it of as a perfect shell. It
| comes off in fragments and has to be
pieced together again, and tied up until
IL hardens. We usually make the cast
in four parts from the bust to the feet,
for it is easier to line it in that shape
with the PAPER mache. Come DOWN stairs
and see how the lining is DONE
Half score of men were at work in the
papier mache department. and figures in
every stage of construction were scat
tered about the room The men were
tearing OF strips of papier mache and
pressing them inside the quartered plsS-
ter casts. when these are all lined they
Will stand for day ard q half In the
crying room, said the proprietor. BY
that time the papier maChe will be
breakable. and the plaster casts will be
taken off. The figures are ready then to
be tasted together over light steel skel-
If they are for the best trade their feet
will be Of papier mache, and they will
wear regular stockings ana shoes Cheap
er figures have weighted iron feet But
they are still headless and armless, you
see. Now here is the figure of a man. His
arms viii never be barred and he will al
ways wear gloves. over there is a pile of
jointed wooden arms ana hands. If he
has 1ointed fingers he can hold his own
umbrella or walking stick. Therefore he
snail have them. But the WoIlen and
children have useless wax hands Notice
these bodies. over the papier mache is
a thick padding of curled hair. so their
figures have the plumpness necessary;
and now look. They are adjustable at
every joint, and bend at the waist and
neck. You can make them assume any
position you please, and he put a papier
uache figure through All sorts Of aero
battle feats. These holes in ,he body and
limbs are for locking them in position.
Now for the face and arms Figures for
the display of evening gowns and Of cor
sets demand wax busts and arms. of
course the only way TO get figure ex-
actly Is TO take a direct cast from the
body. kiut the sensation of being en-
closed IN plaster OF paris cast is not
pleasant, and ii hurts to have il removed
so we can seldom find a model who viii
submit to it. The hands are always from
direct casts. however. and the rest of the
body has to be approximated in clay.
In adjoining small room where direct
casts We're being made moGeser was
rubbing cottolene into a girls hands and
wrists. He placed her fingers in position
and supported her arm.
BE careful not to move now when
pour the plaster over your hands or you'll
lose the pose entirely, he said. A layer
IF plaster was dipped on with large Ia
lie. and piece Of string was laid around
the tips of the girls fingers, and on her
% be pulled out before the plaster harGens
and cut the cast in two" More plaster of
paris was poured over her hand. and the
man watched it closely The girl wrig-
sled.
at burns" she said. That's the lime
and salt. and it'll have to burn more be-
string The string came out easily and
,ut the shell in two parts, but the cast
showed no sign of loosening on her hand
The assistant brought chisei and they
clipped the plaster off down to the skin
keeping the pieces. 1t hurt sometimes
The girls fingers caught in the plaster
and they had to twist themselves free
At last the cast was all off and the mod
sler set the pieces together and tied them
up.
I'm half an hour it viii be ready for
the wax. he said. The wax was melting
in two large kettles over gas blaze. and
when the cast of the girls hand was hard
they poured the hot wax inside of it. In
4 few moments it had frozen a quarter
poured out of the she'll They broke the
plaster of paris off the wax hand and
threw il aside.
We have no further use for that" the
assistant said. The finisher will work
,ut AL the imperfections in the wax hand
low and take a cast of IL. This will be
he final model for the hand
How do you get the cast for the head
If wax figure?" was asked.
From a photograph first Then it is
modelled in clay. A plaster cast is taken
rom the clay and the wax is poured into
he master shell irrsr rs It was for the
land. me whole art in making wax
aces lies in the finishing. Whenever it is
ossihle we copy the lines of expression
rom the face of the original whose pho
ograph we are using. We are more par
ocular in details such as these than the
European manufacturers, and that is why
ur wax figures are better than theirs
he glass eyes that are used are of the
ess quality and are set very carefully.
hough occasionally a cross-eyed woman
returned to the factory for an opera
aDo you use human hair?" was the next
uestion
Yes was the reply. lit is all from
he, heads of the rustic rnaidens Of Spain
nd Austria. They are sh' ,rn of their
,cks at the hair markets there, and we
NY them from dealers on this side At
table in the rear Of the room the hair
eeply in the wax heads. The girls who
o this work need steady nerves. They
old tuft of hair in one hand and catch
ach individual hair in the slit eye of
eedIe This is inserted in the head. and
lie wax is pressed back into the pores
"A good figure will last about ten
ears, the proprietor went on, though
that time it may be returned for re-
rushing up. ana sometimes new hair is
,serted in the head. Every reason, too
omen carrytheir bodies with new pose,
nd we make over the wax ladies to con-
,rm TO the style. Our work Is far supe-
or to the European, and the demand
lr their wax figures is almost at an end
this country. We keep abreast OF the
mes. and they do not. our figures can
o everything but talk. Notice our new
ak women in the stores in the shopping
strfct Aren't they right in the mode?
hey are all ready TO swing into the milf
Try walk. The imported figures are dis