{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O311290"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O311290/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JB8523/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JB8523/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2016JB8523","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O311290/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O311290","accessionNumber":"REPRO.1884-700","objectType":"Capital","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Plaster cast of a capital, decorated with masks for volutes, a child on the abacus, and palmettes on the side.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs","id":"AUTH347738"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28690"},"note":"Copy"}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"plaster","id":"AAT14922"}],"techniques":[{"text":"cast","id":"x32615"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Plaster cast","categories":[{"text":"Plaster Cast","id":"THES270451"},{"text":"Cast Courts","id":"THES280650"},{"text":"Architectural fittings","id":"THES48994"},{"text":"Copies and Facsimiles","id":"THES253072"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2016JB8523"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"46 (VA)","id":"THES49800"},"free":"","case":"WALL6","shelf":"5","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Copy of Architecture capital","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Paris","id":"x29068"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Copy"},{"place":{"text":"Paris","id":"x29068"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Original"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"19th century","earliest":"1800-01-01","latest":"1899-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Copy"},{"date":{"text":"16th century","earliest":"1500-01-01","latest":"1599-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Original"}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"10","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Dimension taken from repro register"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"14","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Dimension taken from repro register"},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"5","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Dimension taken from repro register"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Plaster cast of a capital created in about 1884 by the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs. The cast is a copy of a stone original from a house in Vaugirard, Paris.","historicalContext":"Making plaster copies is a centuries-old tradition that reached the height of its popularity during the 19th century. The V&A's casts are of large-scale architectural and sculptural works as well as small scale, jewelled book covers and ivory plaques, these last known as fictile ivories. \r\n\r\nThe Museum commissioned casts directly from makers and acquired others in exchange. Oronzio Lelli, of Florence was a key overseas supplier while, in London, Giovanni Franchi and Domenico Brucciani upheld a strong Italian tradition as highly-skilled mould-makers, or formatori.\r\n\r\nSome casts are highly accurate depictions of original works, whilst others are more selective, replicating the outer surface of the original work, rather than its whole structure. Like a photograph, they record the moment the cast was taken: alterations, repairs and the wear and tear of age are all reproduced in the copies. The plasters can also be re-worked, so that their appearance differs slightly from the original from which they were taken.\r\n\r\nTo make a plaster cast, a negative mould has to be taken of the original object. The initial mould could be made from one of several ways. A flexible mould could be made by mixing wax with gutta-percha, a rubbery latex product taken from tropical trees. These two substances formed a mould that had a slightly elastic quality, so that it could easily be removed from the original object. Moulds were also made from gelatine, plaster or clay, and could then be used to create a plaster mould to use for casting. \n\r\nWhen mixed with water, plaster can be poured into a prepared mould, allowed to set, and can be removed to produce a finished solid form. The moulds are coated with a separating or paring agent to prevent the newly poured plaster sticking to them. The smooth liquid state and slight expansion while setting allowed the quick drying plaster to infill even the most intricate contours of a mould. \r\nFlatter, smaller objects in low relief usually require only one mould to cast the object. For more complex objects, with a raised surface, the mould would have to be made from a number of sections, known as piece-moulds. These pieces are held together in the so-called mother-mould, in order to create a mould of the whole object. Once the object has been cast from this mother-mould, the piece-moulds can be easily removed one by one, to create a cast of the three-dimensional object.\r\n\r\n","briefDescription":"Plaster cast of a capital, made by the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs, France, about 1884. Decorated with a child on the abacus, masks for volutes, and palmettes on the side. Cast taken from a stone capital on a house at Vaugirard, Paris, 16th century.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Copy","id":"THES48865"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Casts of Capitals\r\nThe V&A cast collection has a large number of copies of capitals – architectural features that form the uppermost part of a column. Throughout history, capitals have been used in building design to create areas of rich ornamentation. These two casts record ornamental styles of the medieval and Renaissance period. They demonstrate how ornament was both applied onto the surface of the capital or incorporated into its structural form.\r\nAbove, about 1884\r\nPlaster cast, copied from a\r\nhouse in Vaugirard\r\nUnion Centrale des Arts\r\nDécoratifs, Paris, France\r\nMuseum no. Repro.1884-700\r\nBelow, 1800–50\r\nPlaster cast, copied from St\r\nAlban’s Cathedral\r\nHertfordshire, England\r\nMuseum no. Repro.A.1916-71","date":{"text":"30.11.18","earliest":"2018-11-30","latest":"2018-11-30"}}],"partNumbers":["REPRO.1884-700"],"accessionNumberNum":"700","accessionNumberPrefix":"REPRO","accessionYear":1884,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-22","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":false}}