tour 9 of 11
Changing face: masks from the British Museum
Death mask of George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), who was born
in Dublin but lived most of his life in England, is considered one
of Britain's greatest dramatists. His plays are still
widely read and performed all over the world. This mask was made on
the grounds that Shaw's international fame was so great
that it would have enormous value for
posterity.
Death and life
masks are both made in the same way. The head and facial hair are
oiled and a thin layer of plaster is applied to the face in several
layers. Threads are set into this and when the plaster has set the
mask is removed in several pieces by pulling the threads. The
pieces are then put back together to form a mould from which a mask
can be made. Death masks can also be made by moulding wax over the
face. A death mask must be made as soon as possible after death,
before the features have
fallen.
Sculptors sometimes
used death masks in making portraits. Joseph Nollekens RA
(1737-1823), for example, used a mask of Charles Townley
(1753-1805), a great collector of classical sculptures, for a
marble bust that is now in the British
Museum.
Shaw's mask
came to the British Museum, which was beneficiary of the Shaw
Estate, twenty-seven years after his death. There are two later
casts of this mask in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London,
and in the National Gallery of Ireland,
Dublin.