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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Cast Courts, The Ruddock Family Cast Court, Room 46A

Figure
ca. 1872-73, ca. 1166
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The German prince, Henry, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, commissioned the original sculpture and placed it in front of his castle at Brunswick as a symbol of his power. The lion was a feat of engineering – the first large hollow bronze casting of a figure since classical times. The plaster cast shows the sculpture’s highly worked surface and naturalistic form, which suggest the original was made by an experienced goldsmith or bell founder. The lion soon became the heraldic animal of Brunswick, appearing on the city’s seal and coins.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • The Brunswick Lion (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Black painted plaster cast.
Brief description
Plaster cast of a lion made by Georg Howalett around 1872-73.
Physical description
Black plaster cast of a lion.
Dimensions
  • Height: 168cm
  • Length: 295cm
Production typeCopy
Gallery label
  • Cast of Unknown artist The Brunswick Lion 1166 The German prince, Henry, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, commissioned the original sculpture and placed it in front of his castle at Brunswick as a symbol of his power. The lion was a feat of engineering – the first large hollow bronze casting of a figure since classical times. The plaster cast shows the sculpture’s highly worked surface and naturalistic form, which suggest the original was made by an experienced goldsmith or bell founder. The lion soon became the heraldic animal of Brunswick, appearing on the city’s seal and coins. Cast Georg Howalett About 1872–73 Painted plaster Brunswick, Germany Museum no. Repro.1873-383 Original Bronze Germany Brunswick Cathedral Square(21/06/2018)
  • The original bronze monument of the Brunswick Lion was created between 1164 and 1176, during the reign of duke Henry the Lion of Saxony and Bavaria. The statue was erected in the centre of the castle complex of Braunschweig (Brunswick) as a symbol of his ducal authority and jurisdiction. The Lion, originally gilded, was the first large independent sculpture of the Middle Ages north of the Alps, and the first large hollow bronze casting of a figure since antiquity. The highly worked surface and naturalistic form suggest it was the work of an experienced goldsmith or bell founder. The Lion soon became the heraldic animal of Braunschweig, appearing on the city's seal and coins. The plaster cast was purchased by the Museum from a plaster caster in Braunschweig in 1873 for just over £29, at the time of the opening of the Cast Courts. Holly Trusted
Object history
Plaster cast of a lion created around 1872-73 by Georg Howalett after the original bronze lion located in Brunswick Cathedral Square, Germany. The original was the first large hollow bronze casting of a figure since classical times and therefore an important work to be copied. The cast was purchased by the V&A from caster in 1873 for £29 11s 1d (200 thalers).
Historical context
Making plaster copies is a centuries-old tradition that reached the height of its popularity during the 19th century. The V&A's casts are of large-scale architectural and sculptural works as well as small scale, jewelled book covers and ivory plaques, these last known as fictile ivories.

The Museum commissioned casts directly from makers and acquired others in exchange. Oronzio Lelli, of Florence was a key overseas supplier while, in London, Giovanni Franchi and Domenico Brucciani upheld a strong Italian tradition as highly-skilled mould-makers, or formatori.

Some casts are highly accurate depictions of original works, whilst others are more selective, replicating the outer surface of the original work, rather than its whole structure. Like a photograph, they record the moment the cast was taken: alterations, repairs and the wear and tear of age are all reproduced in the copies. The plasters can also be re-worked, so that their appearance differs slightly from the original from which they were taken.

To make a plaster cast, a negative mould has to be taken of the original object. The initial mould could be made from one of several ways. A flexible mould could be made by mixing wax with gutta-percha, a rubbery latex product taken from tropical trees. These two substances formed a mould that had a slightly elastic quality, so that it could easily be removed from the original object. Moulds were also made from gelatine, plaster or clay, and could then be used to create a plaster mould to use for casting.
When mixed with water, plaster can be poured into a prepared mould, allowed to set, and can be removed to produce a finished solid form. The moulds are coated with a separating or paring agent to prevent the newly poured plaster sticking to them. The smooth liquid state and slight expansion while setting allowed the quick drying plaster to infill even the most intricate contours of a mould.

Flatter, smaller objects in low relief usually require only one mould to cast the object. For more complex objects, with a raised surface, the mould would have to be made from a number of sections, known as piece-moulds. These pieces are held together in the so-called mother-mould, in order to create a mould of the whole object. Once the object has been cast from this mother-mould, the piece-moulds can be easily removed one by one, to create a cast of the three-dimensional object.
Subject depicted
Summary
The German prince, Henry, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, commissioned the original sculpture and placed it in front of his castle at Brunswick as a symbol of his power. The lion was a feat of engineering – the first large hollow bronze casting of a figure since classical times. The plaster cast shows the sculpture’s highly worked surface and naturalistic form, which suggest the original was made by an experienced goldsmith or bell founder. The lion soon became the heraldic animal of Brunswick, appearing on the city’s seal and coins.
Collection
Accession number
REPRO.1873-383

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Record createdOctober 4, 2006
Record URL
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