How to Tell a Quality Plaster Reproduction
By Pietro CaproniCaproni Casts are the casts of quality, and are the only ones made in America which are admitted to the art collections of the leading Art Museums.
There are a number of cast manufactures in the United States with imposing names, who publish attractive catalogues, offering schools large discounts and additional cash discounts in order to secure from them their good money and furnish them worthless casts which are for the most part only poorly made recasts of Caproni Casts.
The quality of a plaster cast reproduction is of the greatest importance. A poorly made cast is worthless at any price.
On the left: A Caproni Cast. Note the clear, sharp modeling of this statue, which is an exact reproduction of the priceless marble statue of the Venus of Melos in the Museum of the Louvre, Paris.
On the right: A Cast of Another Maker
Is this cast the exquisite modeling of the face and drapery are lost and the whole figure is shrunken. This has resulted from an unrenewed, abused mould, poor materials and the poorest of workmanship.
On the left: Detail of a Caproni Cast
The above is made from an imported model directly from the original.
On the right: Detail of a Cast by Another Maker
In the above another maker has made a poor recast of a Caproni Cast.
Note the beautiful modeling of the face, hair and bust in the Caproni Cast and the washed out appearance of the other cast in which the tip of the nose is entirely gone, the eyes are indistinct, the lips are flabby and with expression. Such a reproduction cannot be classed as a work of art.
On the left: Detail of Relief of the Choir Boys by Luca della Robbia. A Caroni Cast make from an Imported Model Directly from the Original.
This is a reproduction of one of the panels of the famous Cantoria Frieze. Note the wonderful details of hair, hands and drapery. Luca della Robbia, a wonderful Florentine sculptor of the 14th century, was especially noted for the facial expressions of his figures, so well preserved in the Caproni Casts.
On the right: A Poor Recast of a Caproni Cast made by Another Maker
Compare this carefully with the Caproni Cast shown on this page. In this cast all of the splendid details have disappeared under the hands of poorly paid, unskilled workmen. The expressions of the faces are lost, the modeling of hair and hands is gone, while the figures in the background have almost vanished.
What a terrible disappointment it would be to the famous sculptor should he see such poor reproductions of his work placed in the schools!
On the left: Detail of a Caproni Cast of the Barye Lion from an Imported Model Directly from the Original.
This lion is the work of Antoine-Louis Barye, from the famous French sculptor of animals, who is regarded by art critics as one of the greatest artists of the age.
Whether Barye modeled a lion, a deer, a serpent, a tiger or a rabbit, he portrayed them truthfully to the smallest details. In the Caproni Cast these details are all faithfully reproduced.
On the right: The cast illustrated above the artist's fine details are wholly lacking. Compare the expression of the face, the mane, the legs and the muscles with those details of the Caproni Cast! Thousands of defective, untruthful casts like this are sold for the work of Barye. It is certain that if Barye were living, he would give expression to his disapproval of this misrepresentation of his work.