Plaster cast of a small scale relief panel depicting the Virgin and Child, made by Mr Ready at the British Museum in London in about 1900.

Plaster cast of a small scale relief depicting the Virgin seated with the Infant Christ.

Given by Sydney Vacher, Esq.

This plaster cast is one of a set of eight reproductions of carved mother-of-pearl reliefs, from originals in the British Museum. From 22 June 1900 onwards, these casts were on loan to the South Kensington Museum from Sydney Vacher, Esq. (1854-1934). They came to the Museum along with several parcels including 135 casts that Vacher hoped the museum would buy. With these parcels, he attached a letter, in which he referred to the set of mother-of-pearl casts: 'I also include 8 casts of medieval mother of pearl carvings made for me by Ready of the British Museum. On loan as they are the only record of the specimens I gave the museum.' Vacher subsequently donated them to the South Kensington Museum in 1905.

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.

19th-century plaster cast after 15th-century French original.

This plaster cast is one of a set of eight reproductions of carved mother-of-pearl reliefs, from originals in the British Museum. From 22 June 1900 onwards, these casts were on loan to the South Kensington Museum from Sydney Vacher, Esq. (1854-1934). They came to the Museum along with several parcels, including 135 casts that Vacher hoped the museum would buy. With these parcels, he attached a letter, in which he referred to the set of mother-of-pearl casts: 'I also include 8 casts of medieval mother of pearl carvings made for me by Ready of the British Museum. On loan as they are the only record of the specimens I gave the museum.' Vacher subsequently donated them to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1905.

REPRO.1905-23