Misplaced Pages

#305694

36-485: Seventh Regiment Memorial is an outdoor bronze sculpture atop a granite base honoring those members of the regiment who died during the Civil War . The sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward created the statue and the architect Richard Morris Hunt designed the base. Although the statue is dated 1869 the monument was not unveiled until June 22, 1874. Ward likely received the commission in 1867, with funds to be provided by

72-479: A patina , a process that allows some control over the colour and finish. Another form of sculptural art that uses bronze is ormolu , a finely cast soft bronze that is gilded (coated with gold) to produce a matte gold finish. Ormolu was popularized in the 18th century in France and is found in such forms as wall sconces (wall-mounted candle holders), inkstands, clocks and garnitures . Ormolu wares can be identified by

108-736: A Pakistani barrister, Javed Iqbal Jaffery, petitioned the Lahore High Court for the return of the statue, claiming that it had been "taken from Pakistan 60 years ago on the request of the National Arts Council in Delhi but never returned". According to him, the Dancing Girl was to Pakistan what Da Vinci's Mona Lisa was to Europe. However, no public request to India has been made by the Pakistani government. This

144-425: A big bun that is resting on her shoulder. In 1973, British archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler described the item as his favourite statuette: She's about fifteen years old I should think, not more, but she stands there with bangles all the way up her arm and nothing else on. A girl perfectly, for the moment, perfectly confident of herself and the world. There's nothing like her, I think, in the world. John Marshall,

180-424: A bronze casting, either from the original moulds or from a new mould made from the refined plaster positive. Once a production mould is obtained, a wax (hollow for larger sculptures) is then cast from the mould. For a hollow sculpture, a core is then cast into the void, and is retained in its proper location (after wax melting) by pins of the same metal used for casting. One or more wax sprues are added to conduct

216-464: A clear ring when tapped, showing that they are made of bronze, not a cheaper alloy such as spelter or pewter . Dancing Girl (Mohenjo-daro) Dancing Girl is a prehistoric bronze sculpture made in lost-wax casting about c.  2300 –1751 BC in the Indus Valley civilisation city of Mohenjo-daro (in modern-day Pakistan), which was one of the earliest cities. The statue

252-530: A piece of red potsherd , discovered at Bhirrana , India, a Harappan site in Fatehabad district in Haryana, shows an image that is evocative of Dancing Girl . The excavation team leader, L. S. Rao, Superintending Archaeologist, Excavation Branch, ASI, remarked that, "the delineation [of the lines in the potsherd] is so true to the stance, including the disposition of the hands, of the bronze that it appears that

288-484: A series of showy Beaux-Arts entrances to the park was reduced to the Seventh Regiment Memorial. The art historian E. Wayne Craven considers the work "a failure", even though it is a work of art, stating,"neither the 'Shakespeare' nor the 'Seventh Regiment Soldier' were portrait statues in the usual sense, and therein lies the explanation for their failures. Ward often lacked the vision to create

324-495: A successful imaginary portrait, and his images of men who could actually stand before him were, as a rule, much stronger as works of art." The soldier in the monument was modeled by actor, and veteran of the Regiment Steele MacKaye , who wore his own uniform to pose in. Bronze sculpture Common bronze alloys have the unusual and desirable property of expanding slightly just before they set, thus filling

360-598: Is 10.5 centimetres (4.1 in) tall, and depicts a nude young woman or girl with stylized ornaments, standing in a confident, naturalistic pose. Dancing Girl is highly regarded as a work of art. The statue was excavated by British archaeologist Ernest Mackay in the "HR area" of Mohenjo-daro in 1926. It is now in the National Museum, New Delhi , having been allocated to India at the Partition of India in 1947. After excavation at Mohenjo-daro in 1926, this and

396-567: Is 90% copper and 10% tin. The great civilizations of the old world worked in bronze for art, from the time of the introduction of the alloy for tools and edged weapons. Dancing Girl from Mohenjo-daro , belonging to the Indus Valley Civilisation and dating back to c.  2500 BCE , is perhaps the first known bronze statue. Life-sized bronze statues in Ancient Greece have been found in good condition; one

SECTION 10

#1732781127306

432-407: Is doing), although most sources, such as the National Museum of India , continue to see her as a dancer. The statue led to two important discoveries about the civilization: first that they knew metal blending, casting and other sophisticated methods, and secondly that entertainment, especially dance, was part of the culture. The bronze girl was made using the lost-wax casting technique and shows

468-510: Is one of two bronze figures found at Mohenjo-daro that show more flexible features when compared to other more formal poses. The girl is nude, wears a number of bangles and a necklace and is shown in a natural standing position with one hand on her hip. She wears 24 to 25 bangles on her left arm and 4 bangles on her right arm, and some object was held in her left hand, which is resting on her thigh; both arms are unusually long. Her necklace has three big pendants. She has her long hair styled in

504-407: Is removed to reduce the likelihood of interior corrosion. Incomplete voids created by gas pockets or investment inclusions are then corrected by welding and carving. Small defects where sprues and vents were attached are filed or ground down and polished. For a large sculpture, the artist will usually prepare small study models until the pose and proportions are determined. An intermediate-sized model

540-493: Is the seawater-preserved bronze Victorious Youth that required painstaking efforts to bring it to its present state for museum display. Far more Roman bronze statues have survived. The ancient Chinese knew both lost-wax casting and section mould casting, and during the Shang dynasty created large numbers of Chinese ritual bronzes , ritual vessels covered with complex decoration, which were buried in sets of up to 200 pieces in

576-405: Is then constructed with all of the final details. For very large works, this may again be scaled to a larger intermediate. From the final scale model, measuring devices are used to determine the dimensions of an armature for the structural support of a full-size temporary piece, which is brought to rough form by wood, cardboard, plastic foam, and/or paper to approximately fill the volume while keeping

612-590: The Romanesque Baptismal font at St Bartholomew's Church, Liège is described as both bronze and brass. In the Bronze Age, two forms of bronze were commonly used: "classic bronze", about 10% tin, was used in casting; and "mild bronze", about 6% tin, was hammered from ingots to make sheets. Bladed weapons were mostly cast from classic bronze, while helmets and armour were hammered from mild bronze. According to one definition, modern "statuary bronze"

648-599: The equestrian statue of Richard the Lionheart . But the value of the bronze for uses other than making statues is disadvantageous to the preservation of sculptures; few large ancient bronzes have survived, as many were melted down to make weapons or ammunition in times of war or to create new sculptures commemorating the victors, while far more stone and ceramic works have come through the centuries, even if only in fragments. As recently as 2007 several life sized bronze sculptures by John Waddell were stolen, probably due to

684-500: The Seventh Regiment Monument Association. He finished a model by the spring of 1868. Initially, Hunt designed a much larger monument, one with at least five figures, part of his elaborate scheme for the "Warrior Gate" entrance to Central Park . However the park's architects, Olmsted to and Vaux , had already clashed with Hunt over matters of aesthetics with the result that Hunt's grand scheme of

720-520: The archeologist at Mohenjo-daro who found the figure, described the figure as "a young girl, her hand on her hip in a half-impudent posture, and legs slightly forward as she beats time to the music with her legs and feet". He is known to have reacted with surprise when he saw this statuette. He said "When I first saw them I found it difficult to believe that they were prehistoric." The archaeologist Gregory Possehl described Dancing Girl as "the most captivating piece of art from an Indus site" and qualified

756-410: The artist starts with a full-sized model of the sculpture, most often a non-drying oil-based clay such as Plasticine model for smaller sculptures or for sculptures to be developed over an extended period (water-based clays must be protected from drying), and water-based clay for larger sculptures or for sculptures for which it is desired to capture a gestural quality – one that transmits

SECTION 20

#1732781127306

792-461: The case of the "two most celebrated sculpted figures", Pakistan asked for and received the so-called Priest-King figure , while India retained the much smaller Dancing Girl . Despite the division of the Mohenjo-daro finds having been agreed by the two governments at partition, some Pakistani politicians have subsequently demanded that the Dancing Girl be returned to Pakistan. In 2016,

828-462: The description of her as a dancer by stating that "We may not be certain that she was a dancer, but she was good at what she did and she knew it." To the American IVC specialist Jonathan Kenoyer , the reading of the figure as a dancer is "based on a colonial British perception of Indian dancers, but it more likely represents a woman carrying an offering" (which he also thinks the second figure

864-422: The expertise of the people in making bronze works during that time. A similar bronze statuette was found by Mackay during his final full season of 1930–31 at DK-G area in a house at Mohenjo-daro. The preservation, as well as quality of craftsmanship, is inferior to that of the well known Dancing Girl . This second bronze female figure is displayed at the National Museum of Pakistan , Pakistan. An engraving on

900-522: The finest details of a mould. Then, as the bronze cools, it shrinks a little, making it easier to separate from the mould. Their strength and ductility (lack of brittleness) is an advantage when figures in action poses are to be created, especially when compared to various ceramic or stone materials (such as marble sculpture ). These qualities allow the creation of extended figures, as in Jeté , or figures that have small cross sections in their support, such as

936-451: The model is made in wax, possibly formed over a core, or with a core cast in place, if the piece is to be hollow. If no mould is made and the casting process fails, the artwork will also be lost. After the metal has cooled, the external ceramic or clay is chipped away, revealing an image of the wax form, including core pins, sprues, vents, and risers. All of these are removed with a saw and tool marks are polished away, and interior core material

972-402: The molten metal into the sculptures - typically directing the liquid metal from a pouring cup to the bottom of the sculpture, which is then filled from the bottom up in order to avoid splashing and turbulence. Additional sprues may be directed upward at intermediate positions, and various vents may also be added where gases could be trapped. (Vents are not needed for ceramic shell casting, allowing

1008-413: The motion of the sculptor in addition to that of the subject. A mould is made from the clay pattern, either as a piece mould from plaster, or using flexible gel or similar rubber-like materials stabilized by a plaster jacket of several pieces. Often a plaster master will be made from this mould for further refinement. Such a plaster is a means of preserving the artwork until a patron may be found to finance

1044-613: The other finds were initially deposited in the Lahore Museum , but later moved to the Archaeological Survey of India headquarters at New Delhi, where a new "Central Imperial Museum" was being planned for the new capital of the British Raj , in which at least a selection would be displayed. It became apparent that Indian independence was approaching, but the Partition of India was not anticipated until late in

1080-494: The process. The new Pakistani authorities requested the return of the Mohenjo-daro pieces excavated on their territory, but the Indian authorities refused. Eventually an agreement was reached, whereby the finds, totalling some 12,000 objects (most sherds of pottery), were split equally between the countries; in some cases this was taken very literally, with some necklaces and girdles having their beads separated into two piles. In

1116-481: The sprue to be simple and direct). The complete wax structure (and core, if previously added) is then invested in another kind of mould or shell, which is heated in a kiln until the wax runs out and all free moisture is removed. The investment is then soon filled with molten bronze. The removal of all wax and moisture prevents the liquid metal from being explosively ejected from the mould by steam and vapour. Students of bronze casting will usually work in direct wax, where

Seventh Regiment Memorial - Misplaced Pages Continue

1152-740: The thirteenth century the Chola dynasty in South India represented the pinnacle of bronze casting in India. Making bronzes is highly skilled work, and a number of distinct casting processes may be employed, including lost-wax casting (and its modern-day spin-off investment casting ), sand casting and centrifugal casting . The term "bronze" is also applied to metal sculptures made by electrotyping (or galvanoplasty), although these sculptures are typically pure copper and their fabrication does not involve metal casting. In lost-wax or investment casting,

1188-471: The tombs of royalty and the nobility. Over the long creative period of Egyptian dynastic art, small lost-wax bronze figurines were made in large numbers; several thousand of them have been conserved in museum collections. The 7th-8th century Sri Lankan Sinhalese bronze statue of Buddhist Tara , now in the British Museum, is an excellent example of Sri Lankan bronze statues. From the ninth through

1224-425: The value of the metal after the work has been melted. There are many different bronze alloys. Typically modern bronze is 88% copper and 12% tin . Alpha bronze consists of the alpha solid solution of tin in copper. Alpha bronze alloys of 4–5% tin are used to make coins and a number of mechanical applications. Historical bronzes are highly variable in composition, as most metalworkers probably used whatever scrap

1260-497: The weight low. Finally, plaster, clay or other material is used to form the full-size model, from which a mould may be constructed. Alternatively, a large refractory core may be constructed, and the direct-wax method then applied for subsequent investment. Before modern welding techniques, large sculptures were generally cast in one piece with a single pour. Welding allows a large sculpture to be cast in pieces, then joined. After final polishing, corrosive materials may be applied to form

1296-491: Was on hand; the metal of the 12th-century English Gloucester Candlestick is bronze containing a mixture of copper, zinc, tin, lead, nickel, iron, antimony, arsenic with an unusually large amount of silver – between 22.5% in the base and 5.76% in the pan below the candle. The proportions of this mixture may suggest that the candlestick was made from a hoard of old coins. The Benin Bronzes are really brass , and

#305694