Plastic pleasures: reconsidering the practice of modeling through manuals of sculpture technique, <I>c</I>.1880–1933

Around the turn of the last century, a dozen manuals on sculpture technique were published. These texts, written by leading sculptors of the day, offer a valuable glimpse into technical processes and the daily routine of the sculptor's studio. This article reconsiders "How To" publications as a genre and their potential as an art historical source. It then presents a composite guide to modeling technique based on a detailed rereading of manuals published c.1880-1933. In looking again at the sculptor's craft in the decades surrounding the emergence of modernism, this article also considers how far modeling was renewed and reinvented or became a moribund art as argued by hostile critics