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While the technique for making life masks dates back to the time of the Pharaohs, Browere's great success was due to his invention of a quick drying, lighter plaster that did not flatten his subject's features. Browere first spread oil over the subject's face, head and neck. Straws were inserted in the subject's nostrils and thin coats of plaster were applied to the face. As each coat hardended, a fresh coat was added. When the plaster was nearly dry, it was removed in pieces with a chisel and mallet. Browere reassembled the pieces of the negative mask (the mold) and poured a plaster positive mask (the cast). He then sculputed the yees, which were closed during molding, and attached the positive mask to a plaster bust. Hair and costumes were sculpted last.
BibliographyDavid Meschutt, A Bold Experiment: John Henri Isaac Browere's Life Masks of Prominent Americans (Cooperstown, New York: New York State Historical Association, 1988), p. 18.
Ralph Ketcham, The Madisons at Montpelier: Reflections on the Founding Couple (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009), p. 120.
Artist
John Henri Isaac Browere
(American, 1790 - 1834)
Maker
Roman Bronze Works
Related Person
Dolley Payne Madison
(1768 - 1849)
Dolley Payne Madison (1768-1849)
Date1940
MediumBronze
Dimensions22 × 13 3/4 × 9 1/2 in., 69 lb. (55.9 × 34.9 × 24.1 cm, 31.3 kg)
Object numberN0211.1961
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextIn the early 1800s, the artist John Henri Isaac Browere aspired to create a portrait gallery of national heroes. Through a process of casting the faces of living people, Browere made life masks of famous men and women. Twenty-one of the surviving plasters were replicated in bronze in 1940. Dolley Madison (1768-1849) is the only women in the group. She was First Lady to U.S. President James Madison, who was in office from 1809-1817. She also occassionally acted as First Lady to Thomas Jefferson since he was a widower. While the technique for making life masks dates back to the time of the Pharaohs, Browere's great success was due to his invention of a quick drying, lighter plaster that did not flatten his subject's features. Browere first spread oil over the subject's face, head and neck. Straws were inserted in the subject's nostrils and thin coats of plaster were applied to the face. As each coat hardended, a fresh coat was added. When the plaster was nearly dry, it was removed in pieces with a chisel and mallet. Browere reassembled the pieces of the negative mask (the mold) and poured a plaster positive mask (the cast). He then sculputed the yees, which were closed during molding, and attached the positive mask to a plaster bust. Hair and costumes were sculpted last.
BibliographyDavid Meschutt, A Bold Experiment: John Henri Isaac Browere's Life Masks of Prominent Americans (Cooperstown, New York: New York State Historical Association, 1988), p. 18.
Ralph Ketcham, The Madisons at Montpelier: Reflections on the Founding Couple (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009), p. 120.
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