Volume 4

Official descriptive and illustrated catalogue / Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, 1851 ; by authority of the Royal Commission.

  • The Great Exhibition
Date:
1851-[1852]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Official descriptive and illustrated catalogue / Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, 1851 ; by authority of the Royal Commission. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    305/716
    AUSTEIA. 135a Batka, Wenzel, Prague—Proprietor. A very small balance, by Kusche, of Vienna, contained in a platinum blowpipe apparatus. 614 Schiller & Gerbing, Bodenhach, near TetscJien- on-the-Elbe, Bohemia—Manufacturers. ! Group of Syderolite ware, consisting of wine-jug, flower vases, wine-cooler, candlesticks, icepail, inkstand, &c.— , P. 1038.—Plate 412. 746 Monti, Eaffaele, Milan, and 45 Great Marlborough Street, London—Designer and Sculptor, Statues in Carrara marble. Eve after the Fall, arrived at the full consciousness of her crime. up she rose As from unrest; left To guilty shame; destitute and bare Of all her virtue : silent, and in face Confounded, long she sat, as stricken mute. (Milton's Paradise Lost, book ix.) A Circassian slave in the market. And when chained in the market, she crouched down, as if in shame ; but at the same time, looking round at the crowds, her eyes shone through the veil with defiance and dignity. (Barretti's Foetical Journey in the East.') Cupid, as a vendor of hearts, one of a pair representing ancient and modern love.—P. 1044.—Plate 417. ''R. Monti, of Milan (746, p. 1044). Eve after the Fall, arrived at the full consciousness of her crime. This figure, which is in marble, is appropriately conceived; the motive is pleasing, and the execution is very careful. — Juries^ Reports, Cl. 30, p. 703. ——=»©8^Sn9«= PEUSSIA. 279 Kiss, Professor A., Berlin. Group in bronzed zinc, life-size, representing an Ama- zon on horseback, attacked by a tiger ; after one cast in bronze, in 1839, by a number of amateurs, and presented to the King of Prussia, and which was placed by his Majesty's command, in front of the Royal Museum, Ber- lin. Designed by the exhibitor. Cast in zinc and bronzed over by M. Geiss, of Berlin, by his peculiar pro- cess.—P. 1065.—Plate 294. [Zinc has not been applied to the purposes of statuary casting, or for works of architectural decoration, in Eng- laifld • but in Prussia it has been in use for a considerable period. Its application, instead of bronze, was suggested by Schinkel; but it seems doubtful how far its durability may be trusted. Sheet zinc is affected by the atmosphere, and speedily crumbles; otherwise the fusibility of the metal at a heat considerably lower than bronze, the less cost of the raw material, in connection with a rigidity and hardness when cold, would, other circumstances being equal, form important recommendations for its very general adoption. The casting of the Amazon was accomplished by the method employed by Cellini, which may be briefly described as follows:—A pit is dug, and a grating fixed at some distance from the bottom; a rude representation of the intended figure, proportionably less in size than the intended cast, and corresponding to the interior or core, is reared upon this. After this is dried, sheets of modelling wax, corresponding to the thickness of the metal, is spread upon it, and the details to be repre- sented produced by the artist with his modelling tools. Rods of bronze, or the metal of which the statue is cast, are driven through the wax, and project suQiciently to pass into the outer cover of the mould: these fuse with the molten metal, and are not recognised in the finished statue. From the prominent parts of the model rods of wax are projected, which rise upwards, and are intended to allow the escape of air (the presence of which is calcu- lated either to destroy the mould or render the cast im- perfect) : other rods of wax indicate the passages through which the metal is to be conveyed. The wax is now coated with loam, or powdered crucible ground with water to the consistency of cream. Coat follows coat, until it is thought sufficient thickness is arrived at. Earth or clay is heaped upon this, the whole cased with bricks, which is bound together with iron rods. Heat is then applied under the grate; the wax, which represents the thickness of the metal, runs out and leaves a space, ulti- mately filled with the metal which forms the statue ; the heat, which serves to melt the wax, serves also to dry the mould and expel the damp. When covered up, the top of the mould is below the level of the furnace con- taining the melted metal, which, when tapped, flows through the various channels till the mould is filled. After cooling, the outer coating of the mould is destroyed, and the statue stands revealed. The runners are cut ofi, and the whole chased or finished as may be desired. In the present instance copper was deposited on the surface of the zinc by galvanic action; a bronze surface is thereby produced, which is alike beautiful and durable. The reader interested in the art of casting is referred to chap. 6, book 4th, of the Autobiography of Cellini, wherein is detailed the casting of his celebrated group of Perseus and Andromeda.—W. C. A.] [Official Illustrated Catalogue.] 5S