Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1912-11-29
ART IN WAxWORK
Figures Made Nowadays That
Are Really True to Life.
A SCULPTOR AND HIS MODEL.

From His Subject He Works From a
Photograph or a Description-The
Way the Efigies Are Made.
Dickens described Mrs. Jarley's ia
nous waxworks as being divers
s~prightly efigies of celebrated charac-
ters that stood more or less unsteadily
upon their legs. with their eyes very
wide open and their nostrils very
much inflated and all staring with ex-
traordinary earnestness at nothing"
But Mrs. farley was sure they were
80 like life that If waxworks only
spoke and moved about you'd hardly
know the difference"
Il won't go SO far as to say" ZEN.
tured that estimable showwoman.
that I've seen waxworks quite like
life, but I've certainly seen some life
that was exactly like waxworks."
III Mrs. farley were with us today
she could find plenty Of wax figures
that are altogether quite like life." for
the art of counterfeiting humanity has
made great advances since the days Of
Mrs. farley.
To-day waxworks are used for a va
riety of purposes. The United States
army, navy and medical departments
make extensive use of them. Wax
figures form part OF the outfit of
many recruiting stations. The quarter
masters department uses them to
show army costumes. The hospital
service employs them to depict surgi-
cal operations. Museums use wax fig
ures. S~hopkeepers use them for dis
playing garments. Various waXworks
exhibitions are still popular. And in
every exposition nowadays hundreds
of wax figures are used to portray life
in distant times and climes.
Like any other commodity. wax fig
ures can be had ready made" or con-
structed Ito order" The ready made
kind are used principally in shop win
doWS. The wax heads. arms and hands
of these-the bodies are made Of PAPER
mache-are east In stock molds. just
as ready made coats are cut after stock
patterns. They cell by the dozen and
cost only So or 81 apiece.
The made to order wax figure Is cast
In a specially made mold. accurately
fashioned after the given model and
as carefully finished as a piece of stat
uary, which indeed it is. The very
lowest cost for such a wax figure is
$25, and from that sum the price runs
as high as $500. 1t all depends upon
the amount of time and labor expend-
ed by the artist. 4
The sculptor in wax begins a new
figure by making a sketch of his sub
ject. When he cannot get a sitting
from his subject he makes use Of a
photograph or a written description.
Skillful photographers car give de-
scriptions Of people they have photo
graphed that are amazing for accuracy
Of detail. From this sketch a clay
model is made. When this has hard
ened 1t is covered with plaster to form
a mold. Embedded In the plaster are
strings. which. being pulled out just
before the plaster is fully dry. cut the
hardening. mold in half, SO that when
firm 1t can be lifted off in sections.
Into this mold is poured in due time
the wax. which 1t takes half q day to
prepare. This wax must be melted
and worked over and colored 10 match
the complexion Of the subject Finally
It is poured into abe mold and allowed
to harden.
The cast is first trimmed up" all
roughness and irregularities being
smoothed off. Then the eyes are in
serted. These are glass eyes that
match exactly the shade OF the sub
ject's eyes.
Lastly the hair is put on. Strangely
enough, this is a most difficult opera
ton. for the hair of a wax image II
not, as one might think, merely a wig
laid on. TO be sure. it is a wig. and II
matches exactly the subjects hair. but
It must be made to grow" That is. it
must seem TO spring from the scalp and
grow at various angles just as real hair
does. So 1t must be put in and not on
the scalp. The hair Is inserted with
needles, numbers Of which are imbed-
ded In a wooden handle so that the hair
ends can he forced into the wax sew
eral at a time.
The most difficult task of all is to
make whiskers look natural. To make
the beard grow naturally with the cor
rect grain" every one of the thousands
of hairs. each one-quarter Of an inch
long. has to be inserted separately-a
labor that occupies many hours.
Nine. Tussaud was the originator of
the waxworks exhibition. She was
born In Switzerland in 1T60 and whec
six years old was sent to Paris to be
placed under the care of her uncle. M.
GURUS. artist TO Louis XVI. Under
him she studied drawss and modelling.
In 1772 she opened the first waxworks
In the Palais Royal. Figures of royalty
comprise the principal exhibits OF the
waxworks of Europe. In this country
the waxworks are nor diversified.
Any one who catches the public eye. be
he murderer or president, is deemed q