Project - Undine Award - Yasmin

sirelesar

Oct 9, 20234 min read

Updated: Mar 4, 2024

Introduction:

Artistic sculptures utilizing the female form were makings of the high artisans of the middle-ages. These sculptures were utilized in large castings, such as the Nymph of the Gateway of Fontainbleau (Cellini), and within pendants worn as jewelry. The intricacy of sculpting the human form is difficult, requiring complex structures and dimensional perspective. This project is a set of twelve pendants, made for Queen Yasmin of Atlantia for her Undine Award in the year AS LIIX. The work depicts an undine sea nymph captured in a tumultuous tide pool. This effort has been undertaken to learn about human form sculpting and to serve as her award gift. They have been cast in fine silver, with a relief petina. The style has been inspired by Cellini's art and techniques.

Approach: The period method for creating the metal findings would have varied, based upon the necessity to accommodate the undercut of the piece. Undercut is to cut away material from the underside of an object to leave an overhanging portion in relief. Casting without undercut can be achieved by Sand Casting or other split-block casting technique with the split occurring at the widest part of the original form. Split-block casting also allows the original carving or finding to be recovered, Under-cut castings can only be obtained by the Lost Wax Casting (LWC) approach. The original carving for the LWC must be a material that is able to be melted out of the form with relief, therefore must be a wax, tallow or other material recoverable without maintaining its original form (thus the Lost Wax terminology). As the female form has an undercut under her leg, I have utilized the LWC technique. I have also utilized the LWC process as multiple reproductions are necessary for this project.

Materials: Pure silver is a precious material found in many medieval pieces. It is often alloyed with copper, with the most common ratio of 92.5% silver, and 7.5% copper (and other trace elements), commonly referred to as Sterling Silver. Since this pendant is a precious gift, I chose to produce it in pure silver.

Element Use My Materials Period Materials

The original unrecoverable sculpture. Castable resin (Siraya Tech Cast) Bees Wax

The final metal cast material Silver Silver The duplication mold- investment Ceramic Investment (Prestige Oro) White, thinned clay (porcelain)1

Process for Utilizing these Materials: Sculptures:

The original lost wax sculpture would have been from bees wax1. Very early forms used tallow. For this project I used a resin specifically for LWC (Siraya Tech Cast) since I was computer modeling and printing the sculptures. The period approach to producing the sculpture would be to carve it by hand, using files, pics and scrapers. I duplicated this process for another project as detailed in Appendix 1 - Model Creation: Wax Carving. For this project, I used a 3D modeling and printing process. The sculptures were created using 3D computer software (Blender, Chitubox) and printed on a 3D resin printer (Elegoo Saturn). I modeled the sculptures for the Undine from basic geometrical components that were manipulated, combined and assimilated and then sculpted to form the intricate human details. The sculptures were then 3D printed, as detailed in Appendix 2 - Model Creation: 3D Printing.

Cast Material:

The extant jewelry pieces would have been pure silver, gold or a silver alloyed with copper.

Investment:

A high-temperature ceramic material is placed around the sculpture, which can withstand the temperatures necessary to burn or melt out the sculpture during the LWC process, and accept the incoming high temperature metal that is the final casting. This is the Investment material. The common investment material during period for LWC was white, thinned clay mixed with dung, then set to age, then strained to create a slurry slip1. This was used for the initial layers of the form. Thicker white clay was then used for subsequent layers of the mold. This slip mold process used for LWC is demonstrated for another project in Appendix 3 – Molding: Slip Molding of a Lost Original. For this project I utilized a refractory ceramic investment (Prestige Oro) to create the mold. This modern ceramic is semi-porous which assists in a vacuum casting process. This vacuum casting process aids in the removal of air around the sculpture while applying the investment, and secondarily aids in drawing the molten cast material into the voids within the investment. Fundamentally, both materials are ceramic, with the latter being engineered for the semi-porous characteristics. The process of applying the modern investment is detailed in Appendix 4 – Molding: Tree Mold for Vacuum Lost Wax and Appendix 5 – Molding: Vacuum Casting an Investment. Patina:

I used Liver of Sulphur (LOS) for the patina of this silver. After the castings were complete and polished, they were immersed in a bath of hot water and LOS for approximately 15 minutes. They were then air-dryed and polished again using a white rouge and cotton batting buffing wheel on an electric motor to remove the patina on the high points. This gives a relief to the subject.

Conclusion:

This project assisted me in learning to model the human form and place it in a setting or environment. This is challenging process, of which I will use in future endeavors. I also learned the process for the patina.