This relief, entitled ‘Shipping Coal 1909’, is the third in a series of four cast bronze bas reliefs that adorn the shipping and coal monument in Parnell Park, NSW Australia. The monument was constructed in 1909 as a memorial to coal mining and export from Newcastle. The memorial is constructed of Hawkesbury Sandstone from quarries at Pyrmont in Sydney. The structure is topped by a ~one metre cube block of Italian black marble representing coal, since coal would have quickly disintegrated. The four bas reliefs portray the advances in the technology of coal mining and loading for shipping between 1859 and 1909. Bronze bas reliefs are made by carving and layering the sculpture in ‘oil clay’. A plaster mould is then made, into which bronze is cast. There is a detailed description of the process here.
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