Emile Joseph Carlier
was born in Cambrai, France in 1849. He was a student in a monk’s school and then attended the Municipal School where he was taught drawint by the Bergers, both father and son. At the age of fifteen, Carlier joined the studio of ornamental sculptor Lecaron in Cambrai. He traveled to Paris, attending the Universal Exhibition which confirmed his desire to be an artist.
Returning to Cambrai, Carlier followed a course of academic study in the workshop of René Fache. Receiving a scholarship from the city of Cambrai in 1869, he returned to Paris, entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and joined the workshop of academic sculptor Pierre-Jules Caveliwer.
In 1874, Carlier exhibited for the first time at the Salon in Paris, entering works in the following years. He exhibited “Gilliat Struggling with the Octopus” in 1879, which earned him a second prize. This work was inspired by the book “Les Travilleurs de la Mer (Workers of the Sea)” by Victor Hugo. In 1889 after winning his gold medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, he decided to transform his “Gilliat” sculpture and exhibited it at the Salon in 1889. The work was purchased by the state for the Musée du Luxembourg.
Lost Wax Method
sometimes called by the French name of cire perdue or the Latin, cera perduta is the process by which a bronze or brass is cast from an artists sculpture.
In industrial uses, the modern process is called investment casting. An ancient practice, the process today varies from foundry to foundry, but the steps which are usually used in casting small bronze sculptures in a modern bronze foundry are generally quite standardised.
