Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 August 1898 — PUT LIFE INTO WAX, [ARTICLE]

PUT LIFE INTO WAX,

Making Colli Demands Skill In An* atoipy, Drawing and Modeling. “How long does it take to -make one of these?” said the manufacturer in response to an inquiry. “Well, it depends entirely upon circumstances. It is a mechanical operation, the finishing ofT of a wax model, as true of life as this,” and he pointed to the bust of a laughing child, whose rosy neck and bright eyes were framed by clustering curls. “To make these one must have studied anatomy as well as drawing and modeling. We begin In the same way as a sculptor would to make a statue. After the wax has cooled the eyes are put In, the face is ‘made up,’ as theatrical folks say, and the wig is fastened on, and the wooden body is shaped. We make all our hands and feet from life, and they cost about $lO. “If we have an order for an entire figure we always model it from life. The life-size wax figures of infants are among the finest things we manufacture, and they add much to the attractiveness of a show window, as wqs illustrated last winter, when a Washington street retail dealer displayed one during the holiday season. The head and shoulders, such as are seen in the milliner’s windows, cost from S4O to $45. The wig makes considerable difference In the price, as we use the best hair, and It is expensive, especially the natural blond, which is scarce. The children’s heads cost S2O, or thereabouts. “All the finishing off imaginable,” he continued, “would not make a figure stand the test of a season behind the glare of a glass unless the wax has a natural pink tinge. The reason some of the models look so deathly Is because the wax is bad and not properly colored. We use beeswax, slightly colored, and flesh tints are put on In addition.”—Boston Transcript.