Piece-Mould for the Horse's Head and Neck
Sectional casting forms with their armatures and ironwork for the bronze horse
Folio 157r carries a large red-chalk drawing of the gridded, wire-bound piece-mould for the head and neck of the bronze horse, seen in three-quarter view. The notes identify the several sections of the form and their iron armatures, explaining that the forehead piece is pinned in place last so the core can be built solid through that opening. A further note lays out how the muzzle, cheek, forehead and throat pieces lock together and how three sections embrace the neck, as the drawing above demonstrates.
On this page
The sections of the mould for head and neck
The heading names what is drawn: these are the pieces of the mould for the horse's head and neck, complete with their armatures and ironwork. It frames the whole sheet as a catalogue of the sectional casting form.
Fastening the forehead piece last
The forehead piece, holding the thickness of wax inside, is to be pinned last so that through that opening the core can be made completely solid where it fills the head, ears and throat and surrounds the wood and irons of the armature. The inner face of the forehead piece is then coated and pared away little by little until, once replaced, it touches the core everywhere.
How muzzle, cheeks and neck pieces join
At the muzzle one piece joins on two faces with the two cheek moulds above, and below joins with the forehead mould and the mould beneath the throat. The neck is embraced by three mould pieces, two at the sides and one in front, as shown in the drawing above.
The gridded piece-mould in three-quarter view
The large red-chalk figure shows the curving lattice form of the horse's head and neck, its surface ruled into a grid and its seams stitched with rows of wire loops. The form tapers from the broad neck up to the arched crest and muzzle.