Waxwork

“ Wax is the last, and, as I have before pointed out, is, whether used melted or softened by warm water, of the highest service to the artist. Beeswax, when melted, will mix well with either plaster or whiting, or with both, and will make a useful modelling composition, its brittleness being determined by its containing more or less plaster. Wax will also mix with red ochre, and makes a modelling composition. Modelling wax is sold, however, ready prepared, and is useful to pack under the skin for delicate muscles or "flabby" folds of skin. ”

“ To Mold a Calla Lily. Have ready a basin of hot soap suds, strong as possible of soap, and hot, so that your lily will be smooth, not lumpy or bubbly. Melt your wax by setting the tin cup in boiling water, as glue is melted. To every pound of white wax add a tube of Winsor & Newton’s flake white paint, dissolved and thoroughly mixed with one tablespoonful balsam fir, or Venetian turpentine, and half table spoonful of dissolved gum mastic, the whitest possible. This is a good recipe for sheeting wax for your own use, and will be given below in preparations for sheeted wax flowers. ”

“ It is his opinion that the wax-workers, having first gorged themselves with honey, suspend themselves in festoons from the flowers, where they remain for twenty-four hours,—which in a chilly spring night would break many a link of the chain,—after which, one detaches herself from the festoon, enters the hive, and takes up her situation, with her forceps detaches a scale of wax from her side where it has recently exuded, works it with her tongue, and fashions it to the required consistency, succeeded in turn by others, artisan and apprentice. ”

“ The white wax, for instance, contains white lead; the green, copper; the yellow, chrome yellow and vermilion—strong poisons all; while many other kinds of wax are equally poisonous, and, therefore dangerous. There are very many persons who are aware of the intense sufferings, for very many years past, of Mr. W. Bally, phrenologist and modeller in wax, in which latter branch he has laboured for 24 or 25 years, three of them as teacher of the art, at the Manchester Mechanics' Institution. ”

“ Unaffected by change or climate, wax flower modelling perpetuates the transient glories of the floral seasons; places all the tender varieties under the immediate glance of the ever gratified eye of the artist, who can thus in the depth of winter exhibit to an admiring foreign guest the exotics of the far hemisphere, or the indigenous plants of her own loved land. ”

“ Wax-workers appear with large bellies at the entrance of their hive only when the country affords a copious collection of honey. From this it may be concluded that the production of the waxy matter depends on a concurrence of circumstances not invariably subsisting. Nurse-bees also produce wax, but in a very inferior quantity to what is elaborated by the real wax-workers. ”

“ When the wax is melted at the fire, it is poured into the two halves of the mould made up of the hollow pieces in such a manner as causes the wax to come thin according to the worker’s idea for the cast, and the pieces, which have been shaped to correspond with the relief of the core already made of clay, are joined to it and fitted and grafted together. ”

“ If the commoner sorts of wax are used, some marine glue must be added to it to temper it. The side slips should be fixed a quarter of an inch apart, so as to form a cavity, which must be entirely filled up with wax. The wax may be used as in sealing a letter in the first instance; but, in order to give the whole bath solidity, and expel every particle of air from between the glass, I use a heated pointed iron, as a plumber does in the act of soldering. This, passed over the external parts of the wax, also gives it a hardness and smooth finish. ”

“ It is perhaps interesting to note that the queen and the drone have no wax-pockets because they do not take part in the making of wax. For a similar reason their legs are not furnished with wax-pincers, like those of the worker. As the bees hang from the roof of the hive, in solemn and impressive silence, tiny scales are to be seen protruding from the wax-pockets. They look almost like a letter which has been pushed half-way into the slot of a pillar-box. A wax-pocket produces one wax scale, and so the workers each make eight tiny pieces of wax. ”

“ Get a small band of light green wax; roll it round the back of the petals to form a cup; press the centre of each petal into this with a small curling-pin; then gradually draw the stem through into it, so as to give the hollow appearance seen in nature.
This requires great care, lest you draw the wire out of the foundation. The least motion must be used.
After the flower is formed, take the small bristle brush; use the mauve color and white, (which will make the most delicate lilac;) color the edge of the petals, leaving the centre white ”

“ The wax, as it reaches the surface, varies in purity, and, in new workings especially, only hand-picking is needed to separate the pure material. In other cases much earthy matter is mixed with the material, and then the rock or shale having been eliminated by hand-picking, the " wax-stone " is boiled with water in large coppers, when the pure wax rises to the surface. ”

“ By this invention, all the wax, even of the oldest combs, can be secured, in beautiful condition, and as it is perfectly neat, there is no danger of provoking the "best woman in the world," as we are in danger of doing by use of either of the above methods—for what is more untidy and perplexing than to have wax boil over on the stove, and perhaps get on to the floor, and be generally scattered about. ”

“ On cloudy days, the Workers did stay at home in the tree, but not to play. They clung to the walls and to each other and made wax. It took much patience to make wax. When they were gathering honey there was so much that was interesting to be seen, and so many friends to meet, that it was really quite exciting; but when they made wax they had to hang for a long, long time, until the wax gathered in flakes over their bodies. Then it was ready to scrape off and shape into six-sided cells to hold honey or to be homes for the babies. ”

“ Gather the wax together in the water without loss of time, remove it with wet hands, and pull it fast hand over hand as quickly as possible till it attains a light golden colour. Pull off a small piece with the hands, or cut it off with wet scissors, and throw it into the water. If it floats on the surface it has been pulled enough; if it sinks, the wax requires more working. If not pulled enough, the wax is brittle, becoming tougher and better the more it is pulled. ”

“ In submitting the Art of Modeling Flowers in Wax to public favor, I am induced to believe it will be found acceptable; while, to the inexperienced, it will afford much valuable information, removing real and apparent difficulties. It will also present a stimulus to many to exercise their imitative powers in copying nature's most beautiful works, thereby cultivating a taste for the Fine Arts, which, in these days of advancement, is absolutely essential in the varied pursuits of life. ”

“ The pistillum and stigma are painted entirely over with the same colour previously used for veining. Cut five fine stamina in white wax, to the points of each attach an anther, cut in deep orange wax. They are placed across the end, and united by pressing them together with the head of the curling pin. ”

“ The Danger of Modelling in Wax.—Few persons, especially, perhaps, of the many young ladies who are now practising the very pleasing art of modelling fruits, flowers, &c., in wax, at all suspect the great danger in which they are placed from the poisonous nature of the colouring matter of the wax which they handle so unsuspectingly. ”

“ Many pictures have been carried out within the last century on walls in a regular wax medium that may or may not represent an ancient process. Hippolyte Flandrin executed his series of mural pictures in St Vincent de Paul and St Germain des Prés in Paris in a process worked out by Paillot de Montabert. Wax dissolved in turpentine or oil of spike is the main constituent of the medium with which the wall is saturated and the colours ground. Heat is used to drive the wax into the plaster. ”

“ When thoroughly melted, the liquid is poured into a pail or tub of cold water. It soon becomes hard enough to handle, and it is then pulled and worked over until it becomes tough or “gets a grain,” at which stage it becomes the color of very light-colored manilla paper. When wax is applied by hand, the hands must be well greased. Hard tallow is the best material for this purpose. In top-grafting large trees it is well to carry a supply of tallow when waxing by smearing the backs of the hands before entering the tree.
Fig. 89. Inarching. 1. Common Resin and Beeswax Waxes. ”

“ The stamina are produced by cutting three or four narrow strips of double yellow wax, and passing them round the foundation; they must not extend above it, but when brushed out form a full daisy-like centre. The five petals are attached to the back of these, and the stem finished off as the last. ”

“ When all the wax is placed, model it into shape with a smooth, wedge-ended bit of pine{60} wood. To clean out wax that ran into the hair by melting, apply alcohol with a bit of cloth, scratch the waxy hair loose with finger nail and rub the crumbled wax out with the bit of alcohol dampened cloth. This leaves lips, eyelids, and nostrils neatly finished. Apply thin varnish to nose, edge of eyelids, and bare parts of lips that show. For mounting a mammal with open mouth, follow same note given in making a whole head for rug. ”

“ Wax finishing is a good method of finishing any kind of hard or dark-colored wood; (A.) it does not give as satisfactory results, however, as do some other methods of finishing, upon soft or light-colored wood. There are a number of different kinds of wax finishes which can be purchased in almost any desired quantity, (B.) but an economical and satisfactory wax finish may be made by dissolving as much pulverized resin as may be picked up on a cent in a half pint of turpentine or gasolene heated in a water or steam double vessel. ”

“ The wild Indians of the North discovered a use for the balsam in mending their bark dishes, and plugging knot holes in the wooden trenchers. The wax is slow to dissolve in water, and it resisted for a long time such soups as were known to the redman’s culinary art. Bees know the value of the wax and use it to seal cracks and crevices in their hives and to hold the comb in place. It is popularly believed that the economy of the wax on the buds is to keep them from freezing. ”

“ Probably the darkening of the ivory caused by soaking in wax can be mainly removed by heating fuller’s earth to over boiling-point, and then rapidly packing the ivory in the earth and pressing it: the heat would melt the wax on the surface, it will be absorbed by the earth, and the face of the ivory will be left dry of wax. ”

“ When molten, it takes the minutest impressions of a mould, and it sets and hardens at such a temperature that no ordinary climatic influences affect the form it assumes, even when it is cast in thin laminae. The facilities which wax offers for modelling have been taken advantage of from the remotest times. Figures in wax of their deities were used in the funeral rites of the ancient Egyptians, and deposited among other offerings in their graves ”

“ Make the centre of solid wax, on wire of the largest size; press or indent the marks with the point of the curling-pin; place the stamens round, then curl the petals; make them very round and thin at the edge; place the smallest size round, and the remainder in rows, of five each row, fitting into the space left by the preceding petals. Let them form a cup; turn the last row down. Should you require a full-blown flower, make the four calyx of doubled green wax, and white for the inside; curl them in the same way as the petals, and place them round the flower at equal distances. ”

“ Before a bee can make wax she must fill herself with honey. Then she climbs to safe foothold and hangs, while other gorged bees hang on to her in a cluster. There they wait in silence till the wax comes. The scales are either taken out of the maker's pockets by the workers, or tinkle down on the workers while they wait. The workers chew them (they are useless unchewed) into the all-supporting, all-embracing Wax of the Hive. ”

“ Most of the flowers I have seen made in wax I will not call imitations of nature, but stiff, awkward, badly tinted things, devoid of beauty, verisimilitude, or taste. Nothing looks so unlike a natural flower; and these faults can be easily avoided by a little observation of nature.
The first rule I would lay down is to examine the natural flower. Take the pattern of the petals, count the number in the flower, and mark it on the pattern; observe the same rule as regards the calyx and stamens ”

“ Unite the petals neatly together, making a small plait between each. Form the pistil of double wax: thicken it at the end to represent the stigma. The stamina are produced by folding the end of a sheet of wax so as to produce the same appearance as a hem in muslin, and cut ten fine filaments for each flower (the hem represents the anthers) . Colour the pistil and stamina pale pink: darken the end of the pistil to a deep crimson. Touch the ends of the stamina with a sable brush moistened with brown (crimson powder, orange powder, and cake sepia) ”

“ Mrs. Peachey, on inspecting the location, objected, on the just plea that wax flowers were liable to atmospheric influence from the great heat accruing from the glass roof and plate glass surrounding her flowers; and also their material and serious injury from the impracticability of moving her compositions, composed entirety of wax, up staircases without injuring her designs. The whole has resulted in the total exclusion of one of the most beautiful contributions, designed and arranged by one of our most honoured and worthy British Artists. ”