Group of a warrior and an amazon in combat by Lucas, Richard Cockle →

This is a wax model in high relief made by Richard Cockle Lucas in the 19th century in England. The model represents a warrior and an amazon in combat. It is a copy from a piece of ancient bronze armour found near Heraclea, now in the British Museum.

Richard Cockle Lucas (1800-1883) is mainly known as a sculptor in wax and ivory, but he also worked in glass, marble and bronze, as well as being a painter. Lucas began his career as a sculptor as an apprentice to his uncle, who worked as a cutler in Winchester, carving knife handles. He joined the Royal Academy Schools in 1828 and studied under Richard Westmacott. Lucas made two models of the Parthenon, in its original state and after the explosion of 1687, which were acquired by the British Museum. He is best known for his small scale works including wax sculptures and ivory carvings. Lucas was at the centre of a controversy about the bust of Flora in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin. The bust was thought to be an authentic work by Leonardo da Vinci but the sculptor’s son Albert Dürer Lucas claimed in the Burlington Magazine that the bust was modelled by his father. It is now generally thought that the bust is probably by Leonardo or his circle but was repaired by Lucas. He exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1829 and 1859 and showed ivory carvings and imitation bronzes at the Great Exhibition in 1851.

Taken from The V&A online collection

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Bubble problem solved with fat busting machine?

Part of my development of the new bronze casting is to find a suitable inner former to support the woven wax during its casting, so the inner core has to be able to withstand the heat of molten bronze.

Looking back into my research into ancient Greek casting techniques shows that by the late Archaic period (ca. 500–480 B.C.), Sphyrelaton went out of use as a primary method when lost-wax casting became the major technique for producing bronze statuary. This was replaced with solid lost-wax casting using a solid core or clay.

I want to use this method but replace it with a material that doesn’t shrink quite as much as clay, and use casting powder to make a solid block which I can carve into to create my desired shape. This block of plaster will then support the woven wax.

After discussing this with other artists and the foundry one of my biggest obstacles could be air bubbles. When mixing plaster and water you unavoidably get air bubbles in the mix, this is fine for usual plaster uses, but not if the plaster is going to be kiln heated to 800°c. As you know when air is heated it expands, and if it is trapped in a hard substance it will try and find a way out, this could cause an explosion in the plaster.

Many artists and specialists suggested a vacuum chamber or an oscillating plate to either suck out the bubbles whilst the plaster is wet or to shake the bubbles out by vibration. Both these pieces of kit are a bit on the expensive side, so it was back to the drawing board.

I was thinking about this problem and how to overcome it, so to help I typed in ‘Vibrating’ into a search engine. Along side the many items that vibrate for 'other’ reasons, was an exercise machine. You set the vibrating plate to your chosen level and stand on it. Apparently the vibrations help to get rid of fat deposits in the body, and I thought “If this machine can vibrate the weight of a person, it should have no problem vibrating a large bowl of wet plaster”. After some more researching I found a second hand exercise machine only 20 minutes drive from my home listed for only £30, a few emails later I was on my way to collect it.

So can my bubble problem be solved with a fat busting machine or will it just vibrate the plaster out of my mixing bowl and all over the floor? I’m not sure, but the machine is now safely in my little van awaiting the first day back in the studio after the Christmas break to give it a try. I can’t wait.

Roman artefacts found in Derbyshire

During a research trip to Derby Art Gallery & Museum, I came across a large selection of bronze items on display found within Derby City and the Derbyshire region.

This post relates to the Roman Occupation of the county and is taken from the exhibition within the museum.

“Iron, Bronze, Gold, Silver, Lead and Tin were all worked for many centuries before the Romans came to Britain. Under the Roman occupation demand for these metals led to massively increased production. In Derbyshire lead and iron were particularly important industries.

Lead - Derbyshire was an important lead mining area in the Roman period. The lead industry appears to have been based in the Derbyshire Dales, at a place called Lutudarum, perhaps near Carsington.

Twenty-nine ingots (called ‘pigs’) of Roman lead from Derbyshire have been found, weighing an average of 80-90kg each. Inscriptions on them indicate that private companies were running mines, probably under state license. 

Lead was used for a variety of purposes including water tanks and pipes, weights, containers and figurines. Few of these survive as lead is usually melted down for re-use rather than thrown away.

Iron - Iron was widely used in Roman Britain. Tools included axes, hammers, saws and chisels. Soldiers needed daggers, swords, spears and harness fittings. Iron was also used for hinges, locks and keys, nails and window fittings.

Iron ore was usually obtained by open-cast mining. The ore was roasted in an open hearth and then smelted in a furnace, producing iron bloom which could then be hammered into wrought iron by a blacksmith.

Archaeologists have found fifteen iron smithing hearths at the Roman industrial area at Derby Racecourse.”

Find out more about the items on display at Derby City Art Gallery & Museum.

Luted Crucible Bronze Casting at The Institute of Making

During my research into ancient casting techniques I came across an interesting technique called “Luted Crucible Bronze Casting”.

‘Luted’ or sealed crucible casting is a low-cost and low-tech method of casting, relatively unknown outside India and West Africa. It involves sealing the raw ingredients for bronze - copper and tin - into one half of a peanut-shaped crucible made from mud. The other half contains the wax model to be cast. The whole thing is baked in a furnace, and when the metal is molten it is flipped over, and the liquid bronze fills the cavity left by the wax.

See the article in full on UCL Institute of Making