Greek Oil Jar Replica
Course Project - “Introduction to Prop Making”, City Lit, London, Sep - Nov 2023
Main Materials: Polymer Clay, Silicone, Model Board, Jesmonite, Plaster, Acrylic paint
Techniques: Silicone mold making, resin casting
During the Intro to Prop Making course from Sep - Nov 2023, we learned how to create silicone molds for objects and produce multiple casts from different materials. The brief required us to select an object from the British Museum, roughly conforming to certain dimensions for us to replicate. The object I selected was a clay oil jar in the shape of a foot from Ancient Greece.
Reference photos were taken of the jar in the museum. Rough measurements were taken as handling the object wasn’t possible.
A scale replica of the oil jar was sculpted from Polymer Clay and secured to a piece of model board with hot glue for the rest of the mold casing to be built around.
Model board was cut to size, built up around the clay model and hot glued along every seem. The mold was filled with water to check for leaks to prevent any silicone from spilling out when poured in. Once the mold was water-tight, silicone was mixed and slowly poured into the corner of the mold, allowing it to gradually fill, seeping into all of the gaps and expelling any air pockets.
Once the silicone had set, the clay model was cut out of the mold using a scalpel. Cuts were made in curved/jagged lines so that when the mold was used to re-cast, the cut would “key” back together, making it tight, minimising seepage. Once the clay model had been fully removed, the silicone mold was used to cast the first replica in plaster.
Above is a direct comparison of the prop replica and original oil jar. Layers of acrylic paint were built up to mimic the various shades of terra cotta. Polyfilla was used to replicate the worn areas in white, appearing around the edges of the relief details. Not having exact dimensions meant that some parts were slightly out of proportion, but as a first attempt at the process of sculpting and casting, I was pleased with the final result.
The replica was cast in green Jesmonite. Metallic paint was applied to give the effect of oxidised copper.
To keep practicing the process, additional casts were made in white Jesmonite and regular 2 part liquid resin.