Location (grandparent | parent | this page): Atelier Moulin-Noir Home Page | Atelier Moulin-Noir Original Sculptures | The LION TABLE project
Here is a project that Merike and Pierre worked on together -- Merike being the sculptor and Pierre the mould-maker. Eventually, Atelier Moulin-Noir will be presenting a complete line of Egyptian-inspired articles -- a Lion Table, a Sphinx Lamp, a Jackal (Anubis) Statue, and many others. The first project completed has been the Lion Table described below.
In the table below you can click on any image to see a larger version of the same image in a separate window. Then close that separate window when you are finished.
| 1. Sculpting a lion leg | ||
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 | First the lion leg has to be sculpted. Here Merike is working on the clay original maquette of the lion leg. She was interested in capturing the essence of certain ancient Egyptian motifs but this is not a precise copy but rather an original form "inspired by" the Egyptian motifs. To the right can be seen two copies of another of her sculptures (an interpretation of the Ancient Goddess). | |
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| 2. Moulding and casting a lion leg | ||
 | Then a mould must be made of the lion leg. This has a flexible rubberized interior to capture every tiny detail of the original sculpture. This rubberized interior is made by pouring the rubberized material over the original wax maquette (covered with release compound to prevent the rubber from sticking to it) and enclosed within a specially constructed form to permit only a narrow thickness of rubber to form. Once dry, the outer form is removed and the rubber "skin" is peeled off the original wax maquette. This rubber skin is then used as the interior of the final mould. As to the outer form, it is saved for the final mould construction. The rubber skin (forming the interior of the mould) can be seen in the image at the left. Notice that it is flexible to the touch (Pierre's thumb is bending it open and to the left) -- this very flexibility is what permits the rubber to pick up every original sculptural detail. The rubberized interior of the mould is encased in the protective stiff outer form (already referred to above) to prevent the rubber interior of the mould from bulging with the weight of the casting material. And finally the stiff outer form is encased within a wooden box -- split down the middle at a "parting line". | |
 | Here the final mould can be seen -- with the rubber skin nestled within the rigid outer form, itself encased in the wooden box. Of course, the outside of the rubber skin follows the general shape of the lion but doesn't have all the minute details that are captured in the rubber skin's interior. After the two halves of the box are clamped together the mould will be stood on its head and the casting material poured in an opening left at the base of the feet. This upside-down pouring ensures that any bubbles (minimized, in any case, by a special vibrator machine Pierre built) will form at the base of the feet, where they are concealed, and not at the top of the lion. | |
 | After pouring -- and after the casting material has had 24 hours or so to dry and harden, the two halves of the mould are opened up, the rubber interior peeled open, and the casting extracted. Here the white (as yet unpainted) casting can be seen lying beside the mould from which it has just been removed. If you look closely, you can see a metal rod sticking out horizontally from the lion's back. This connects inside the lion with another metal rod running vertically from the feet to the head. The free end of the horizontal rod will later connect in turn with the centrepiece of the table. Thus the casting material is reinforced and strengthened by this internal load-bearing metal "bone structure". | |
 | While the casting will be an almost perfect copy of the wax maquette original, there will inevitably be some miniscule smoothing and "fine-tuning" of the surface required before painting. Here Merike is applying the finishing touches to one lion leg casting. | |
 | Here is the completed lion leg casting. You can see a second casting behind it. Now a third must be cast in order to make the three-legged table. | |
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| 3. Attaching three lion legs to the centrepiece | ||
 | To design the centrepiece the three lion legs must be put in position to get all the angles correctly determined. Then Merike can proceed to carve in wax the original maquette for this centrepiece. | |
 | Once the centrepiece wax maquette is completed, a mould for the centrepiece must be made in the same way as already described for the legs. At the left you can see the empty centrepiece mould (once again lined with the rubber "skin" capturing all the details of the wax maquette original) waiting for the pouring of the casting material. | |
 | Next you can see the centrepiece casting complete -- now awaiting attachment to three lion legs. | |
 | Here is the same casting after Merike has painted it with Egyptian-inspired motifs and colours. | |
 | Here you can see the details of one lion leg casting being attached (with its interior metal rod) to the centrepiece casting. Once everything is joined together, the table as a whole is ready for painting. | |
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| 4. The finished "LION TABLE" | ||
 | Here is the finished LION TABLE with its glass top. When desired, the table can also come with a polished wooden base joining the three legs together a few inches above the ground -- as shown in this picture. But in most cases this base is unnecessary. The interior metal rods already provide strength and stability to the table and often we feel it is more elegant having the feet alone. But that is up to the indicidual. | |
 | A close-up of one of the lion faces. These are not fierce Chinese lions but rather gentle and wise mythical beasts with almost a Zen serenity to them. The face tells you the lion understands everything (life, the way of the world, the potential for joy and wisdom, the potential for human suffering). All this an more the lion knows -- though he may not tell you. | |
 | This image gives you a better view of some of the Egyptian-inspired colours and motifs Merike has used in painting the centrepiece. | |
 | Here you can see the completed LION TABLE on location in Merike's house looking out over the music conservatory -- and, in the distance, Lake Ontario. | |
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