WORKING IN WAX

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 3308, 31 March 1926, Page 13

WORKING IN WAX

PITT’S TURNED-UP NOSE. Working in wax is a mid-Victorian pastime, as may be seen in the glass cases of roses and Hies still to be found in antique shops and revived for the purpose of atmosphere by Second Empire devotees (says the “Manchester Guardian”). It was given a high place among female accomplishemnts, and expensive glass cases, finished off with a border of chenille, testify to parental gratification, which excused the expense. Wax flowers were only a by-product or far more elaborate working in wax which from Stuart times took tne form of tho wax effigy, and later or the wax miniature. This was made in low relief and coloured in natural tints. Special miniatures were made of relatives and friends, but there were also general portraits of celebrities, Pitt’s turned-up nose exists |to-day in a good many wax mlnla(tures, generally paired with a picture iof Fox. They are put into deep i blc eV frames, covered with glass. T’ arc. wonderfully decorative Ok ,!l wise people cover the glass to prevent tho colours from fading. The revival of the wax miniature ajt the present day has achieved a | certain degree of success. Artists have Kept rather close to the old, quaint convention which avoids sheer imitation or the wax-doll elomcnjts. Wax needs a certain stiffness of work to give It the necessary character.