Berlin Workshop Produces Replicas of Ancient Sculptures

One hundred limited-edition replicas of the 3,500-year-old bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti are being created for sale.
Berlin Workshop Produces Replicas of Ancient Sculptures
The Replica Workshop of the National Museums of Berlin boasts 7,000 molds dating back to antiquity; the largest collection in the world. (John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images)
9/7/2011
Updated:
9/8/2011

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Sculpture-replicas_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Sculpture-replicas_medium.jpg" alt="The Replica Workshop of the National Museums of Berlin boasts 7,000 molds dating back to antiquity; the largest collection in the world. (John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images)" title="The Replica Workshop of the National Museums of Berlin boasts 7,000 molds dating back to antiquity; the largest collection in the world. (John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-132053"/></a>
The Replica Workshop of the National Museums of Berlin boasts 7,000 molds dating back to antiquity; the largest collection in the world. (John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images)
NEW YORK—For over 150 years, the Replica Workshop has produced replicas of unique pieces from the cultural and architectural history of Berlin’s museums. It is the largest institution of its kind in the world, consisting of some 7,000 objects.

The Workshop, in the National Museum of Berlin, contains pieces from the Middle Ages, Rome, Egypt, ancient Greece, as well as the Renaissance period, according to the Deutsche Welle website Dw-world.de. Troy, Michelangelo, as well as great 20th century thinkers, are all represented.

Replica works of African, Asian, American, and local Berlin sculptors are all included in the vast collection, continues the Deutsche Welle report.

Interested buyers can get their hands on anything from the inventory catalog to decorate their home or give as a unique gift.

The subtleties of the originals are all meticulously replicated, including blemishes and aging.

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/replic-bust_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/replic-bust_medium.jpg" alt="A replica of the 3,500-year-old bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti is cleaned by sculptor Wolfgang Zuehlke. One hundred limited-edition busts will be made and sold for over 2,500 euros each. (John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images)" title="A replica of the 3,500-year-old bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti is cleaned by sculptor Wolfgang Zuehlke. One hundred limited-edition busts will be made and sold for over 2,500 euros each. (John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-132054"/></a>
A replica of the 3,500-year-old bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti is cleaned by sculptor Wolfgang Zuehlke. One hundred limited-edition busts will be made and sold for over 2,500 euros each. (John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images)
One such replica is the bust of Queen Nefertiti, the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. The 3,500-year-old limestone original is held in Berlin’s famous Neuse Museum.

The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation has organized a special edition of 100 replicas of the bust of Nefertiti, which are currently in the production process and will sell for 2,900 euros (US$4,200).

The famous bust of Nefertiti will be nearly identical to the original but will be made of plaster. A new high-tech 3D scanner, based on an auto-industry method, was created for this reproduction, said Bertold Just in the Deutsche Welle report. Artist Anette Schulz takes one week to paint Nefertiti.

The original Nefertiti bust has been in Germany since 1913. However, controversy has surrounded it. Egypt claimed the bust was taken out of Egypt illegally and wanted it returned home in 2009, according to a Nytimes.com report.

The claim did not meet with success, and Nefertiti remains at the Berlin museum. She has resided in her own domed room overlooking the length of the museum since it reopened in 2009, 80 years after the beginning of the war, when everything was put into storage.

 

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