When Was Wax Modeling Invented?

Wax modeling is an ancient craft. Egyptians made masks of the faces of royalty and other important people 5000 years ago (BP, "Before Present"). The technique was known in early Babylon (3200 BP), and Alexander the Great had his own wax sculptor (2300 BP). Wax modeling was as common in Rome as was modeling human forms in marble.

In Europe's Middle Ages, no annual market or fair was complete without a collection of wax figures to draw local peasants. These were the forerunners of today's circus sideshows.

Who Was Madame Tussaud?

In the mid-1700s, the most celebrated wax artist was John Christopher Curtius of Berne, Switzerland. The French king was so impressed with his work that he invited him to move to Paris. Curtius made wax figures of royalty and noblemen and showed them at the Royal Palace. He also made likenesses of criminals and other notorious people of his day. These were displayed in town for ordinary people to see.

Curtius' star pupil was his young niece, Marie Gresholtz (1760-1850). She was only 19 when she was invited by the sister of King Louis XVI to move to the French court at Versailles. For the next nine years, she served as art tutor to the court ladies.

How Are Wax Modeling and The French Revolution Related?

By 1787, France had too many mouths to feed and too little food. It was deep in debt, at least partly because of its involvement in the American Revolutionary War of 1776. When King Louis tried to raise taxes, citizens cried out for reform. Fearing trouble, Marie Gresholtz returned to her uncle's house in Paris -- just in time to become an unwilling participant in the French Revolution.

In July 1789, an angry mob surged through the doors of Curtius' house. They demanded wax figures be made of their heroes to carry in a procession through the streets. Curtius and Marie were forced to do as the people asked or forfeit their lives.

Two days later, an angry mob seized the Bastille, the notorious French prison. Members of the national assembly -- fearing for their lives -- proclaimed liberty, equality, and the right to resist oppression. When the king's advisers convinced him not to recognize the new laws, the people revolted and took over France. The royal household and political leaders were tried and sentenced to death. Wild crowds watched as the condemned were led to the dreaded guillotine and their heads chopped off. Marie Gresholtz was forced to make wax death masks of her former friends and acquaintances, including King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

In 1802, after an unfortunate marriage, Marie Gresholtz Tussaud sailed to England with her two sons as well as the molds and figures from her work and her uncle's exhibitions. For the next 30 years, she traveled in Britain, exhibiting the figures. In 1833, the collection settled in a permanent home in London on Baker Street. "Madame Tussaud" died in 1850. Her museum can be visited in London today.

How Are Wax Figures Made?

Early wax figures were usually made in three parts -- the body, the head and neck, and the hands. The head, neck, and hands were made of ordinary beeswax mixed with chemicals to harden the wax and protect it from heat and cold.

The technique for making a plaster, metal, or wax figure begins with the same basic steps. The craftsman first sculpts a plaster of Paris model of the head. When the model has hardened, it is used as a form. Hot beeswax is poured into it and left to cool ("set"). Once it has set, the mold is removed.

The face and skin coloring is applied, then a final layer of wax is applied over this. Wax is slightly translucent, more like human skin. This see-through quality makes wax look much like human flesh.

Although wigs are used on many figures today, older wax figures actually had human hair inserted into the wax. A special needle was used to place each strand of hair into the scalp separately. This gives a very realistic look, but it takes many hours.

Today, photographs, measurements and computer technology are used to create wax heads of live subjects. Their hands are often dipped in wax (direct application). This is left on until it firms.

Because of the expense, body parts that show (usually face and hands) are the only parts made of wax. In the 1700's, bodies were usually made of leather stuffed with straw. Later figures were made of cloth or plaster. Today, new figures are often built of aluminum piping and wired for animation.