Randall's Urban Architectural Sculptures

I will be ordering another half ton of clay very soon after I finish some major kitchen renovations.
I will be looking again at some ideas I put aside for new models, besides a book-torch symbol panel, I may make a small version of this massive cornice from the 1918 Commodore Hotel;

The face I believe is a representation of a sun-god, it also has some familiar elements with the mouth shape that reminds me strongly of the comedy/tragedy theater mask designs. The Commodore Hotel stood on 42nd street next to Grand Central Station but was stripped to it’s steel frame and Donald Trump’s glass monstrosity of a facade replaced it in 1980.
The interior was totally gutted as well.
The cornice mask appears in a picture book on architectural ornaments. There were about 180 copper masks made, a number of them were salvaged, an unknown number were destroyed.
I bought mine a couple of years ago for $2700, a residence sized reduced scale version of this would be very interesting and dramatic looking on the wall. The cost would be quite affordable, and I would use my old green patina finish for this which I used many years ago, maybe with a minor updating to it ,I think it would look stunning.

Commodore hotel page

These were made in sections and riveted and soldered together.
Each mask was made in multiple pieces stamped out on a large pressing machine. The pieces were made by creating steel plates, a positive and a negative plate for the design, which meshed together but leaving a slight space between them in the design area. When the copper sheets were placed on the press between the plates, many tons of pressure were applied and the soft copper was forced into the shape and design.
Removed from the bed plate and trimmed to size and shape, each piece was hand assembled into the mask and the masks riveted and soldered to the backing sections.
Although it could technically be done, it would be all but impossible to produce these today due to the extremely prohibitive costs involved in producing the multiple pairs of steel plates required!

Some idea of how it’s done can be seen here;