{"id":318,"date":"2026-05-19T12:40:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T12:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/?page_id=318"},"modified":"2026-05-26T14:13:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T14:13:27","slug":"plastilina-or-plasticine-study-of-an-unpublished-sculpture-by-ismael-smith-in-the-context-of-industrial-modeling-pastes-invented-during-the-late-nineteenth-century","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/plastilina-or-plasticine-study-of-an-unpublished-sculpture-by-ismael-smith-in-the-context-of-industrial-modeling-pastes-invented-during-the-late-nineteenth-century\/","title":{"rendered":"Plastilina or Plasticine: Study of an Unpublished Sculpture by Ismael Smith in the Context of Industrial Modeling Pastes Invented During the Late Nineteenth Century"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Plastilina or Plasticine: Study of an Unpublished Sculpture by Ismael Smith in the Context of Industrial Modeling Pastes Invented During the Late Nineteenth Century<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Sonia Jerez Fraj, Alex Masalles Rivera, and N\u00faria Oriols Pladevall<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contemporary Art Review, Volume 4 (2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Download Article (PDF, 6MB)<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Plastilina o plasticine: estudio de una escultura in\u00e9dita de Ismael Smith en el contexto de las pastas de modelado industriales inventadas a finales del siglo XIX<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Sonia Jerez Fraj, Alex Masalles Rivera, y N\u00faria Oriols Pladevall<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contemporary Art Review, Volumen 4 (2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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DESCARGAR ART\u00cdCULO (PDF, 6MB)<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Keywords<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

sculpture, modern modeling pastes, plastilina, plasticine, chemical composition, model, sketch, Ismael Smith<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Between 1879 and 1897, European modeling pastes with similar characteristics but different formulations were developed to create a new advantageous material for producing sculpture models and sketches. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the Catalan sculptor Ismael Smith modelled a Busto de Don Quijote<\/em> with one of these industrialized modeling pastes. It is the only sculpture manufactured with modeling paste that is preserved in the Museu Nacional d\u2019Art de Catalunya in Barcelona. Ismael Smith\u2019s model requires conservation treatment, and identifying the chemical composition and properties of the modeling paste will help determine the necessary steps for developing an appropriate protocol. To verify whether the material used by Smith matches any of the commercial formulations developed from the late nineteenth century, a two-pronged investigation has been conducted. We cross-referenced recipes for this type of material\u2014originally called plastilina<\/em> in Germany and Italy, and plasticine<\/em> in England\u2014and were able to locate them. Additionally, we studied the chemical composition of the modeling paste in Smith\u2019s sculpture that was identified using microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. The presence of sulfur and zinc carboxylates links this modeling paste to plastilina\u2019s composition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Palabras Clave<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

escultura, pastas de modelar modernas, plastilina<\/em>, plasticine<\/em>, composici\u00f3n qu\u00edmica, modelo, boceto, Ismael Smith<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resumen<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Entre 1879 y 1897, en Europa, se desarrollaron diferentes formulaciones de pastas de modelar, con caracter\u00edsticas similares, para crear un nuevo material id\u00f3neo para la producci\u00f3n de modelos y bocetos de esculturas. A principios del siglo XX, el escultor catal\u00e1n Ismael Smith model\u00f3 un Busto de Don Quijote<\/em> con una de estas pastas de modelar industriales, siendo la \u00fanica escultura fabricada con este material que se conserva en el Museu Nacional d\u2019Art de Catalunya en Barcelona.Dado que este modelo de Ismael Smith requiere un tratamiento de conservaci\u00f3n, identificar la composici\u00f3n qu\u00edmica y las propiedades de la pasta de modelar contribuir\u00e1 a determinar el protocolo de intervenci\u00f3n adecuado. Para verificar si el material utilizado por Smith coincide con alguna de las formulaciones comerciales desarrolladas a finales del siglo XIX, se ha llevado a cabo una doble investigaci\u00f3n. Se han localizado y comparado las recetas de este tipo de material, originalmente llamado plastilina <\/em>en Alemania e Italia, y plasticine <\/em>en Inglaterra. Paralelamente, se ha analizado mediante t\u00e9cnicas microsc\u00f3picas y espectrosc\u00f3picas la composici\u00f3n qu\u00edmica de la pasta de modelar de la escultura de Smith. La presencia tanto de carboxilatos de zinc como de azufre vincula esta pasta de modelar con la composici\u00f3n denominada plastilina.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Citation<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Jerez Fraj, Sonia, Alex Masalles Rivera, and N\u00faria Oriols Pladevall. 2026. \u201cPlastilina or Plasticine: Study of an Unpublished  Sculpture by Ismael Smith in the Context of Industrial Modeling Pastes Invented During the Late Nineteenth Century \/ Plastilina  o plasticine: estudio de una escultura in\u00e9dita de Ismael Smith en el contexto de las pastas de modelado industriales inventadas  a finales del siglo XIX.\u201d In Contemporary Art Review<\/em>, Vol. 4. Edited by Austin Anderson, Jessica Walthew, and adrian hernandez. Washington, DC: AIC. 30\u201345.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plastilina or Plasticine: Study of an Unpublished Sculpture by Ismael Smith in the Context of Industrial Modeling Pastes Invented During the Late Nineteenth Century Sonia Jerez Fraj, Alex Masalles Rivera, and N\u00faria Oriols Pladevall Contemporary Art Review, Volume 4 (2024) Plastilina o plasticine: estudio de una escultura in\u00e9dita de Ismael Smith en el contexto de […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":349,"featured_media":314,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-318","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/349"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":339,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/318\/revisions\/339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/contemporaryartreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}