Sign Barye Hippopotamus Bronze Sculpture Statue Figure

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Sign Barye Hippopotamus Bronze Sculpture Statue Figure Condition: This sculpture is in a very Good condition. Bronze Dimensions with Marble Base:Height 8" x Width 11 1/2" Marble Dimensions:9" X 6" Height without base: 7" Weight :10 LBS Inventory : 63-43122M3436 One of the most unique looking animals, the hippopotamus stands out in a crowded river. They dwell in water and mud mostly, to stay cool during the hazy days. They emerge at dusk to graze. Despite their physical resemblance to pigs, their closest living relatives are surprisingly whales and porpoises from which they diverged about 55 million years ago. This playful hippo emerges from the muddy lake and yawns. His mouth opens wide, giving you a good look at his large tongue. He has a shiny brown patina with gold details. 100% bronze and handmade, this sculpture was cast using the "Lost Wax Method". It features the signature A. Barye. Antoine Louis Barye was born in France September 24th, 1796 and he died 1875. Most of his work was focused exclusively on animals, most of them wild. He was considered and Animalier, a sculptor whose works are mostly animals. Barye is a very accomplished sculptor and artist, he has exhibited some of his works in the Salon and some of his works reside in the Lourve. Bronze Sculpture Casting Tour The process of bringing a bronze sculpture to life using the lost-wax method is something you'll appreciate after taking this tour- Enjoy The Lost Wax Casting Process Here Artist original clay sculpture is nearly ready for the foundry. Note the artist is still adding the finishing touches.Most sculptors prefer to work with clay or wax; some however, do use wood and other mediums. Here the finished original clay is now complete. The sculptor will take it to the foundry now, get a bid then begin the first stages of the lost wax process.The first step can be shocking for some as they begin to decide how this original will be cut up.In order to prepare the original clay sculpture for molding, it will be dissected by cutting the clay with wire and by cutting the armature with a saw. The armature is what helped support the clay in place while the artist was creating it. Note the registration marks which later in the process will serve to realign the parts.Shown here are the sections of the original clay sculpture after having been dissected.Now the various parts of the original are carefully mounted on clay plugs before the rubber mold material is applied. The clay plug later serves as a pour spout for the mold.As you can see now they begin painting the latex rubber onto the original together with the clay plus that's been added in layers. Notice the shim line that will alter serve as a separation line for dividing the mold in half.A lock and tab system has been applied (see the edge) so that the mold will be able to be opened and closed securely. Once the rubber mold has been completed, a plaster or fiberglass "mother" mold is applied to the outside which will preserve the integrity of the rubber mold.The "mother" mold is now complete, the next step is to separate the two halves of the mold and remove the original from inside.The next step is to remove the artists' original and reassemble the clean, empty mold. Now a way pattern will be poured by building several layers of the hot wax within the rubber mold. A layer is poured, allowed to dry until there is about a 1/4 inch thick wax pattern made of the artists' original. It is very important to note that the wax pattern is a hollow duplicate of the artists' original.Now the wax pattern is taken to the wax "chasing" room of the foundry. Here much time is dedicated to the restoration of the wax pattern to the exact likeness of the artist original. All bubbles and imperfections are "chased" away in this process.Eventually there will need to be a way for the hot, molten bronze to funnel its way into a ceramic type mold, shown here the wax pattern is sprued and mounted on a wax cup. The red sp... read more

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