Porthos American Percheron Cut For Molding Making

Porthos is a sculpture I did in 'traditional' 1/9th scale and completed in late 2021.  He depicts an American Percheron or other American breed draft  horse with his head and neck turned around to look behind him.  He stands with one back leg cocked.  I first had him cast in a limited edition resin but also 3D scanned so I could reduce his scale and produce him in smaller sizes in limited edition resin as well.  Shown here is a full 1/9th scale hollow cast resin of my original sculpture that I have cut up to prep for mold making.  Normally equine pieces in the USA are molded so that the piece is cast whole and in one piece.  But this limits the positions the horse can be in and makes for some very large, very heavy molds even before slip is poured into them.  That is suitable for earthenware but not as practical for casting porcelain or fine bone china which can not abide any bending of the wet clay when demolding.  So I have cut him up and will finish prepping him to cast in pieces in my choice of earthenware, porcelain, or fine bone china and then assembled in my studio before bisque firing.  I will also be cutting up and producing a 'mini' version of my sculpture, probably 3D printed and mirrored to face the other direction.  Casting a rubber master to cut up is more usual than cutting up a resin but sometimes I get lazy if it's a small edition and I really don't need the extra steps.  Some pieces will be individually claybody customized with various manes and tails, or have additional show ribbons added.  Many pieces in the limited editions will be custom glazed by myself and sold at public auction when completed.   Another version of this piece is being produced in England for me in fine bone china - because I just can't do everything in studio or I'd not have time to sculpt!