I have all 3 molds for this design completed now, the last one is drying out, soon I’ll order the black resin to pour a couple of test castings. I calculated it will take 7 quarts to fill the griffin’s body mold and 1-2 quarts for the wings.
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Winged griffin, after Hecla Iron Works progress
The 2nd wing mold is now finished, and ready to start the mold for the body of the griffin himself. With the plaster model inside the box built for this, it will have to be embedded halfway with clay and the first half of the rubber portion brushed on with multiple applications, and a plaster shell poured over that. Once the plaster hardens, the box and the clay gets removed and the second half of the rubber mold brushed on, the sides of the box get strapped together to surround the sides, and the 2nd half of the plaster mold made. The box is about 28″ long, 9″ deep, 14″…
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Winged griffin, after Hecla Iron Works progress
The first wing mold is done and a test plaster cast made and fitted to the test plaster body.
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Winged griffin, after Hecla Iron Works
The first half of the first mold is done, to-morrow the 2nd half will be done and the work makes some more progress. The Hecla Iron Works of Brooklyn NY was named after Mount Hecla, an active volcano in Iceland. A fitting name for a design studio and foundry established by two Scandinavians: Danish-born Niels Poulson and his Norwegian partner, Charles Eger. The two men came to the United States at different times in the 1860s, and founded their business in a small office in Williamsburg in 1876, a boom time for building in Brooklyn and New York City. Both men had backgrounds as mason-journeymen, and Poulson had been an…
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Winged griffin
I decided to finally make the 3 molds needed to make this griffin newel post. I had 3 of them in my collection, cast-iron from the 1870s they were used as newel posts on the stoops of buildings in NYC. Many of them had their wings broken off, many probably deliberately by building supers to remove the fairly sharp pointed wings to avoid injuries or tearing of ladies dresses. They were made by Heckla Iron works in Brooklyn. The originals were cast-iron, a material that would cost hundreds of dollars just for the castings, so casting them in metal is not likely, casting them in any kind of plaster, cast…
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Artifact of the month (February 2020)
Artifact: Two brass gothic door lock assemblies Material: Brass Identification marks: Toulon 2850, 10th floor, and 17th floor, Patent dates include 1904 and 1905 Dim’s h/w/d: 12-3/4” x 3-1/2” Weight: 4# approx Origin: From a NYC commercial building ca 1910, possibly from 90 West Street. The back of the plate reads “Toulon 2850” and “L H Patented Apr 19 1904, Aug 20 1904, May 16, 1905 and others.” The style and age as well as one coming from the 17th floor strongly lean towards their having come from 90 West Street in Manhattan, it was erected and in the style at the same time frame as these locks having…
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Artifact of the month (January 2020)
Circa 1903 roundel with a deep relief female portrait bust wearing long hair, a necklace and lace garment, laurel and oak leaves flank the figure, each element has a symbolic meaning and purpose. The laurel leaves symbolize victory while the oak leaves symbolize strength. So this female figure was associated with victory and strength. Terracotta 25″ across, purchased from an antique store on Bleecker Street in 2009 for $1350. The roundel, which was salvaged in the 1950s from the Lower East Side was probably from a tenement East of Avenue D when the city built the “Projects,” originally she likely had a separate border made of six sections.…
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Sculpture of the week (January 7th, 2020)
Grotesque Keystone Nr 285 Kiln Fired Terracotta The keystone that provided the original to make the mold from came from 705 -707 East 5th Street, Manhattan, pictured below in 1975; The original ca 1905 keystone was made from white terracotta and just the grotesque mask upper half was used; Like the original, my red terracotta is hand-pressed and kiln fired, these can be used outdoors in the garden or built into a brick or stone wall. The entire block of buildings on East 5th Street was demolished in the 1980s. To purchase one of my kiln fired keystones; Grotesque Keystone Nr 285 Kiln Fired Terracotta Copyright © 2020 Randall’s…
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Sculpture of the week (December 31st, 2019)
Art Deco Chanin Building Panel D8 “Activity” To purchase an interior cast of this; Art Deco Chanin Building Panel D8 “Activity” HISTORY of the building The 56 story tall Chanin Building is a brick and terra-cotta skyscraper located at 122 East 42nd Street, at the corner of Lexington Avenue, in Manhattan. Built by Irwin S. Chanin in 1929 It was designed by Sloan & Robertson in the Art Deco style, with the assistance of Chanin’s own architect Jacques Delamarre, and it incorporates architectural sculpture by noted sculptor Rene Paul Chambellan. In the lobbies, eight bronze reliefs designed by Rene Paul Chambellan are inset in the walls above ornate…
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Sculpture of the week (December 24th, 2019)
Art Deco Chanin Building Panel D9 “Endurance” To purchase an interior cast of this sculpture; Art Deco Chanin Building Panel D9 “Endurance” HISTORY of the building The 56 story tall Chanin Building is a brick and terra-cotta skyscraper located at 122 East 42nd Street, at the corner of Lexington Avenue, in Manhattan. Built by Irwin S. Chanin in 1929 It was designed by Sloan & Robertson in the Art Deco style, with the assistance of Chanin’s own architect Jacques Delamarre, and it incorporates architectural sculpture by noted sculptor Rene Paul Chambellan. In the lobbies, eight bronze reliefs designed by Rene Paul Chambellan are inset in the walls…