Studying copies, the relevance of stories that we have failed to tell

"Replicas embed many stories and embody considerable past human energy." 

(Foster & Curtis, 2016) 

Reproductions - whether as drawings, casts, scale models and photographs - have been used to document and generate research on collections since the birth of the museum. Should these be considered as mere records, as indexical copies important for understanding 'original' artefacts, or as objects worthy of study in themselves? What are the differences between fakes, copies and reproductions? What are the social, economic and political issues surrounding the collection, use and disposal of reproductions in the museum? 

 

The application of a coating on a plaster cast can deceive the visitor and

generate the illusion of different materials.

Source: courtesy of Valentina Risdonne. All rights reserved.

Foster and Curtis (2016) wrote a paper in which the multiple layers of value and information of the historical replicas are highlighted. The processes of their production, circulation, function, use and after-life (including modern treatments) represent a cradle of information from the empirical and technological perspective, and they can also enlighten the social and economic context of the replicas. But why the modern research, either on the histories of the copies and consequently on their conservation, neglected these objects, which constituted such a significant part of the 18th-19th artisanal manufacture? 

My focus is on the 19th century plaster casts. These copies were not fakes or forgeries, they were produced with purposes of inspiration, education or also for decorating country houses. Nevertheless, the misconception of this objects being unoriginal and ‘deceiving’ bought them the disdain of the public of the time and a space in the darkest storages, far from the public display. 

The study I am undertaking at Northumbria University aims to understand and contextualise the Victoria and Albert (V&A) museum’s nineteenth century plaster casts through historical and technical analysis of the casts’ coatings applied to ensure a desired appearance and durability, and to investigate the efficacy of the state-of-the-art conservation. The Cast Court refurbishment project allowed a closer look at the collection, though the conservation of casts and interpretation activities. The conservation strategy aims to maintain the structural stability of the casts and to improve the condition of the surfaces. Decades of dirt deposits need to be removed without disturbing the original or later coatings. The cast collection of the V&A is unique, as many of the casts have been on display for over 150 years and the collection remained intact whilst many other nineteenth century collections were later broken up. The collection in the Courts embodies various narrative lines and has varied roots; (Frederiksen, 2010; Wade, 2014) it is also deeply related to many of the numerous European collections. (Hagen, 2007; Kenworthy-Browne, 2006) It further influenced the establishment of many others overseas during that time. (Cambareri, 2011) 

Fragments of plaster casts are sampled from the selected casts 

and mounted in resin to be studied as cross-section. 

Source: courtesy of Valentina Risdonne. All rights reserved.

For my research, a group of objects was selected within the Cast Collection, made by F. Küsthardt. Each phase of the study was properly documented (photographic documentation and AutoCAD renderings). The objects were studied using Optical Reflectance Microscopy, SEM-EDS, FT-IR and py-GC-MS. Records of previous treatments on the object were carefully examined, when available. Other groups of objects will eventually be selected and compared to the Küsthardt group. A critical interpretation of the 19th century’s treatises represents an inestimable resource to understand the technologies and the materials accessible at the time. (Auerbach, 1961; Bankart, 1908; Chaney, 1973; de Jonge, 1985; Frederick, 1899; Meilach, 1966; Millar, 1897) The V&A’s Cast Court collection has never been examined systematically from a scientific and material point of view. 

Historical studies on plaster casts’ materials have been undertaken from different perspectives, a decent literature is available on the single collections and few case studies have been published on the conservation of a specific object. Little or nothing has been published on their coatings so far. This information will eventually draw stories for the use of the specialists or of the general public. 

Valentina Risdonne

AHRC CDP PhD Student

Northumbria University/Victoria and Albert Museum

For more information on the Cast Courts refurbishment project visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/projects/reviving-cast-courts 

If you are interested in the discussion around the replica, follow Lasting Impressions: https://lastingimpressions-reproductions.blogspot.com/ 

Bibliography:

• Auerbach, A. (1961). Modelled Sculpture and Plaster Casting. New York: Thomas Yoseloff.
• Bankart, G. (1908). The art of the plasterer. An account of the decorative development of the crafts chiefly in England from the XVIth to the XVIIIth century with chapters on the stucco of the classic period and of the Italian Reinassance also on sgraffito pargetting Scottish Irish and modern plasterwork. London: B T Batsford 94 High Holborn.
• Cambareri, M. (2011). Italian Renaissance Sculpture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: The Early Years. Sculpture and the Museum, 95-114.
• Chaney, C. (1973). Plaster mold and model making. New York, London: New York, London : Von Nostrand Reinhold.
• de Jonge, L. (1985). The art of doing: Plaster Techniques. Amsterdam, Holland.
• Foster, S. M., & Curtis, N. G. W. (2016). The Thing about Replicas—Why Historic Replicas Matter. European Journal of Archaeology, 19(1), 122-148. doi:10.1179/1461957115Y.0000000011
• Frederick, F. F. (1899). Plaster casts and how they are made. New York: New York, W.T. Comstock.
• Frederiksen, R. (2010). Plaster Casts in Antiquity. In R. Frederiksen & E. Marchand (Eds.), Paster casts. Making, collecting and displaying from classical antiquity to the present. (Vol. TA 18, pp. 15-33). Berlin/New York: De Gruyter.
• Hagen, B. (2007). The Cast Collection at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Visual Resources, 23(1-2), 7-19.
• Kenworthy-Browne, J. (2006). Plaster Casts for the Crystal Palace, Sydenham. Sculpture Journal, 15(2), 173-198.
• Meilach, D. Z. (1966). Creating with plaster. London: Blandford Press.
• Millar, W. (1897). Plastering. Plain and decorative. (Donhead Ed. Donhead Publishing Ltd 1998 ed.). High Holborn, London: B. T. Batsford.
• Wade, R. (2014). The production and display of Domenico Brucciani's plaster cast of Hubert Le Sueur's equestrian statue of Charles I. Sculpture Journal, 23(2), 250-255. doi:10.3828/sj.2014.24