The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-12-08
CHEAP S%TATUETTES.
Large Demand from SchOols-Less
Sale for the Nude.

New York Evening Post.
While it is not difficult to secure good
American workmen for carrying out
schemes of interior decorations, it is i'm
possible yet to get native-born men capable
of modelling statuettes and busts such as
are sold on the street corners and in many
Of the art shops. All the workmen en-
ployed in factories that produce these are
Italians, chiefly from Tuscany. This is
equally true of those who follow this trade
in Germany and France. The Tuscans APP
pear to nave a natural ability for that sort
of work that has given them the monopoly
of it.
The great majority Of these busts and
statuettes are copied directly from the
originals wherever they happen to be, and
then the molds are made from that copy
and sent TO all parts of the world, the
statues being cast in the place where they
are to be sold. In the larger shops in this
city. however, a certain amount of original
work is done in order to keep pace with
the popular demand for representations Of
the hero OF the hour. A great many Of our
most distinguished poets, authors and
statesmen. whose busts are exposed for
sale on the street corners, never sat for
these portraits. Some modelled
the nSaQ aIlGT a D0olORFaDn ana OCCASION
ally has produced such good work that IL is
almost "a pity the sculptor's name should
emain unknown.
The chief purchasers of these casts from
the larger makers are the high schools all
over the country. They demand. of course,
not only classical subjects and copies Of
ancient bas-reliefs and architectural de-
tails. but also busts of famous men and
women from every period of the worlds
history. Such a wide range Of subjects is
covered by this demand that seven and
eight thousand titles are included in some
OF the catalogues issued. The factories
where these figures are turned out exhibit
in their shOwroOms an assortment and con-
fusion OF time, place and nature bewilder-
ing TO look at. The process of casting
these statuettes is a comparatively simple
one when the mold is once completed. The
material used, plaster of paris. is cheap,
and a very excellent quality is PRODUCED in
this country. When the s~tatuette comes
out it is pure white and covered with
ridges made by the different sections of the
mold. These ridges are carefully removed,
and then the cast is placed i'm an oven
heated at about $50 degrees. After it has
baked for a certain length of time il is
plunged into a solution of stearic acid and
kept there until thoroughly saturated.
Then, when it has dried, the yellow color is
gained by applying TO the surface a solu-
ton of beeswaX turpentine and coloring
matter This color viii not wash of, and,
OF course, any shade can be produced at
will.
The demand for nude statues in the art
schools Is growing less every year, said
one OF the largest makers OF these casts.
THAT Is because people are realizing more
and more that artists must draw from the
human figure itself IL they wish TO under
stand the human form We get more orders
now Tor draped figures in the art schools,
and for busts In the high schools. Until
very recently the busts OF most OF the cele-
brated Americans which We sell had been
made In Italy from photographs sent over
from this country, and many mistakes oc-
CURED in matters of detail, like the cut OF
the coats and collars. We are trying TO do