20th Century Statue of Liberty Souvenir Model

Before the rise of resins and plastics in souvenirs, pot metal was a cheap alternative and preferred material for making souvenir model of famous landmarks. The pot metal would be electroplated in copper to simulate a bronze finish after being cast and cleaned.

In this particular example, the model of the Statue of Liberty was actually copied from an older example. Not many people would notice but hardcore Statue of Liberty collectors probably have noticed the strikingly similar appearance of this model to that of the first souvenir models of the Statue of Liberty made here in America.

The very first models were made in Brooklyn, NY starting around 1884. They were sold to raise funds to build the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. While they were popular and sold by Macy's and other department stores and in newspaper ads, it ultimately took Joseph Pulitzer and his populist crowdfunding drive to gather enough money during the financial panic of the 1880s to finish the pedestal for Liberty.

A careful look at this model comparing it to it's antecedent would reveal that the souvenir company had taken a mold off the original 19th century "American Committee Model" (as it was first known) and had some tweaks and alterations done to it to hide it's origins. The pyramid base under the pedestal was originally smooth-sided with the name of the American Committee and their copyright and trademark in fancy script on the front. The details of the pedestal and goddess were much finer and better sculpted than represented here. In particular her feet were plainly visible with the individual toes, the inscription of July 4 1776 on the tablet, the facial features, the individual rays of the crown were sharp and clean plus her fingers and other details. Unfortunately, making a mold from an existing sculpture or statue usually results in "blurry" details and loss of fidelity. The other thing most noticeable is that an extra layer of masonry was added to the top of the pedestal just under the base of the goddess. In the original model, the pedestal and Liberty came apart easily. They were made in two parts so the pedestal could be nickel-plated while the goddess was electroplated in pure copper to simulate bronze. Then they'd be mated together before being sold.

A great photo of an orignal American Committee model can be seen here: https://goo.gl/664DBc

I set this model on a small turn table (or lazy susan as some would call it) near the front windows of my living room that face north on a sunny day. The light was bright but indirect, so there were no hard shadows or blown-out highlights. I ended up snapping about 60 photos in all.

I then used Agisoft Photoscan to recreate the model on a high setting. I used Meshmixer to scale the STL file to match its real-world counterpart.