Jean Leon-Gerome The Snake Charmer

I’ve just decided to refurbish this piece based a well-known Jean L. Gerome painting titled The Snake Charmer. The scene comprises a nice oriental set obtained from Braune and with a few Wilken figures added. 

So here's the piece as it was hanging on the wall before I started the refurbishment. 

I had made this about 10 years ago. The sides were simply painted black. In retrospect, I think it would probably look better if I added mirrors to the sides to create an impression of a large interior. Mirrors cut to the right size are a little tricky so I have opted for silvered mirror paper which are easier to handle. The scene was missing a white turbaned boy in a blue gown sitting in front.

I carefully prised open the box from the frame. Then I cut two side shiny card pieces to fit onto the edges. 

                                     

I sculpted the sitting boy figure to add to the scene. 

  

Finally, I've completed this. The figures and parts were reassembled and I added a thin cutout frame to mask off the edges. The glass sides certainly make the scene roomier and brighter. Thanks for looking.

Updating This Blog

I am currently enlarging all the pics and revising the texts for all the posts. I hope this makes your visit more enjoyable.

Middle East camels 2

Some progress on one of the camels.

Arabia Set Western Miniatures 3

This is the update on the Pasha Favourite.

Hannibal Crossing the Rhone

This magnificent set was obtained from Schmiddtiel, now not available. I have had it for a few years  and I intend to paint it now. The figures were spray-painted in matt grey and mounted on a wooden base for temporary display.

Middle East camels

Took out some odd pieces to start doodling on them. These comprise Kilia and GO Intl figures.

Ulundi Finished

Finished this piece and mounted it on black velvet.

Puppeteer in 54mm Finished

I cut out a suitable sized cardboard and covered it with black velvet. The flat was inserted into a slot and the piece was placed inside a small frame.

Ulundi 3

Almost finished painting this piece. A rather complex vignette scene, but ultimately satisfying.

Ulundi 2

Progress on this piece.

Puppeteer in 54mm 4

Finished working on this piece.

Assyrian Lion Hunt Segom 3

Now working on the two chariots.

Puppeteer in 54mm 3

I sanded down the sculpted sarongs on the puppets and added some sculpted details to the rest of the puppets.

The Distribution of The Eagles 5

I repaired the figures with putty.

Started painting the figures with eyes and other details.

Cortum Julius Caesar 2

Some (not all) of the figures in this set were obviously inspired by this painting.

I am exploring other colour schemes for the figures.

The Distribution of The Eagles 4

Here are some figures which require additional work.

The engraving of the group of three marshals shows a bad indentation in the area where the cape covers the left foot.

 I made a slt cut through this section and bent the piece to align the upper part to the legs. Will add some minor putty to repair the cuts.

 Two identical figures with four arms each, selectively trimmed off to create two different figures.

Two figures not obviously portrayed in the painting. The Hussar figure has multiple arms for variety.

Cortum Julius Caesar

Inspired by a recent viewing of the 1953 movie starring Charlton Heston and John Gielgud, I took out this set to start doodling further.

GO Intl Bacchanalian Feast and Procession of Aprhodites

The last update on these figures was in October 2013.

These were interesting sets with some mythological figures which I wanted to do as a grotesque display, the term grotesque being used as an artistic term.

Arabia Set Western Miniatures 2

The last update on this set was in March 2012! Since then, I have only completed Gerome's The Snake Charmer". These are the other figures which I hope to update this round. From the last time around, there were figures which I had not identified to date. Note that I have modified Jean Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nuoy's "White Slave figure considerably.

In fact, I have already started on Gerome's The Slave Market. However, I have removed one of the slave girls as she is not in the original painting. I have added other unidentified figures to make up the crowd scene. See the last picture.

I have also worked on Edouard Ender's "The Pasha Favourite". The photo will be shown in my next update on this set.

The Distribution of The Eagles 3

Some of the other figures need to be improved. For example, the hussar figure is not properly cast, missing part of the sabretache. I intend to fill this in with epoxy putty. A group of marshals is poorly engraved. This will be improved with putty, too.