WHEN WAX NO LONGER WORKS

Ever wondered where old wax figures go once they fall out of favour? Well, in the case of the wonderful / appalling Louis Tussauds in Great Yarmouth (which I think of constantly, always with an ache), they were bought by some Arabian potentate and shipped out to somewhere very hot (presumably they are kept in climate controlled conditions). With Madam Tussauds, for decades those figures that became surplus to requirements went to the Wookey Hole in Somerset, where they became a tourist attraction in their own right.

This postcard gives us plenty to digest: a bust of Nelson, some of Diana Dors, Henry VIII's and Bobby Moore's bodies and, in the background, a panoply of one-time household names and legends, including Hal and Bobby's heads, Tony Hancock, Nobby Stiles, Peter Ustinov, Shirley MacLaine and dear old Queen Matilda. 

MOORE, MOORE, MOORE

 

By 1974, Henry Moore was popular enough to warrant a wax figure in Madam Tussauds, not a bad accolade for a contemporary sculptor whose best work was innovative and experimental. Tussauds resisted the opportunity to do something abstract with his figure, and instead fashioned a fairly good likeness of the 76 year old Yorkshireman, although it did have the somewhat rough-hewn, pock-marked look that wax figures often had at the time. When finished, his nattily dressed likeness stood alongside Picasso. 

Wax figures are a great interest of mine, particularly because they tell you a lot about the interests and priorities of the society which produces them. They are always ephemeral: they come and then go, usually for good. As such, I don't know whether Moore's figure was still on display when the real man died in 1986, but I suspect not, David Hockney had almost certainly crept in by then.