Wax
Beeswax, and now synthetic wax, is used for sculpture because of its translucency, its ability to record fine details, and the ease with which it can be coloured. It was very suitable for portraits and in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was used to make replicas of the human anatomy for use in medical schools. It is malleable and can be freely worked with the fingers and hot metal tools, making it popular for making models as in the lost-wax casting technique. It is also used as a protective coating on wood sculpture and can be coloured and brought to a high polish for bronze sculpture.
Charles Townshend
attributed to Isaac Gosset
circa 1750-1767
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Henry Seymour Conway
by Isaac Gosset
1760
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Charlotte Augusta Matilda, Princess Royal
attributed to Peter Rouw
circa 1795
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Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe
after John De Vaere
based on a work of 1798
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James Watt
by Peter Rouw
1802
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William Pitt
by Peter Rouw
1809
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Warren Hastings
by Peter Rouw
1806
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Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales
by Samuel Percy
1814
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Richard Reynolds
by Samuel Percy
circa 1817
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Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry (Lord Castlereagh)
possibly by David Morison
1822
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James Meadows Rendel
by Richard Cockle Lucas
1852
NPG 5902
Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield
by Robert Glassby, cast by John Theodore Tussaud
1933, based on a work of 1881
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