Wenzel Maler Portrait of Emperor Rudolph II 1606 wax relief Victoria & Albert Museum |
attributed to Gaetano Giulio Zumbo The Judgment of the Damned ca. 1675-1700 wax relief Victoria & Albert Museum |
Johann Baptist Cetto Resurrected Christ as a Gardener recognized by Mary ca. 1700 wax relief Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut |
Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi Apotheosis of Antonio Manoel da Vilhena, Grand Master of Malta ca. 1725-29 wax relief Los Angeles County Museum of Art |
Giovanni Francesco Pieri Holy Family with young St John the Baptist 1767 wax relief on slate Los Angeles County Museum of Art |
Joachim Machado de Castro Flora ca. 1770 wax relief Victoria & Albert Museum |
John Flaxman A Child (said to be artist's four-year-old sister Mary Ann) 1772 wax relief Victoria & Albert Museum |
Samuel Percy Death of Voltaire ca. 1780-1820 wax relief Victoria & Albert Museum |
Samuel Percy Dead Christ ca. 1780-90 wax relief and linen on wood panel Victoria & Albert Museum |
Samuel Percy Queen Anne ca. 1800-1820 wax relief with velvet drapery Victoria & Albert Museum |
Richard Cockle Lucas Cleopatra 1848 wax relief Victoria & Albert Museum |
Richard Cockle Lucas Portrait Medallion of Sir Anthony Panizzi Principal Librarian at the British Museum 1850 wax relief British Museum |
Benedetto Pistrucci Portrait Medallion of a Man before 1874 wax relief British Museum |
Nella Casella Silvia Bella ca. 1908 wax relief Victoria & Albert Museum |
"Wax is an organic substance derived from animals and plants, a versatile material that has long been used by artists for sketch models and small sculptures. It is quick and easy to shape, yet also inexpensive. Once softened, it is modelled in a similar way to clay, with the composition built up gradually. To enhance the wax, pigment can be added before moulding and pearls or other jewels can be embedded in the surface afterwards. Wax was thought to be particularly well-suited to women modelers since more traditional methods and materials such as wood or stone-carving were considered to be messy, dangerous and unsuitable."
"Ella Casella (1858-1946) and her sister Nella Casella (1859-1950) were artists who worked collaboratively in a variety of media: wax, watercolour, glass enameling, leather tooling and metalworking. In the 1880s they studied under Alphonse Legros (1837-1911) at the Slade School of Art. They exhibited both at the Royal Academy and with the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in the 1890s. As part of the revival of Renaissance art by British artists in this period, the Casella sisters drew from a Renaissance tradition in form and method, aligning themselves with great masters such as Pisanello (1395-1455)."
"Actively involved in the thriving artistic and cultural life of turn of the century London, these artists were inspired by theatrical costuming of the period, and many of their wax relief portraits represent friends from their circle, including many celebrities of the day such as Ellen Terry, Henry Irving, Franz Liszt and Bram Stoker. As well-educated ladies of wealth and distinction, both their gender and social standing played a predictably pivotal role in the development of their art, training, and working practice."
"This is one wax of a group of twenty-nine wax sculptures bequeathed to the Victoria & Albert Museum by Edward (Teddy) Pyke. Mr. Pyke had devoted most of his life to the study of waxes, and his book Biographical Dictionary of Wax Modellers, published in 1973, continues to be the most comprehensive resource on wax modellers. His own collection was wide-ranging, and included British, German, French and Italian portraits and figure subjects from the sixteenth century up to the present day. His generous bequest augmented and complemented the then-existing holdings of waxes in the Museum, which is regarded as the National Collection."
– curator's notes from the Victoria & Albert Museum