How are mass produced natural stone figures made?
Duplicating lathes and carving machines based on the pantograph have been employed for stone carving reproduction for a long time. Of course where and when labor was cheap hand carving was the method but there were always a number of skilled artisans finishing the finer pieces. The egyptiansand ancient Greeks used a type of pantograph to take dimesions of smaller sculpture up to monumental sizes.
I think that some of them are carved by hand because labor is cheap in many countries and creating those are ways to make money. The makers may be using electric shapers/grinders, etc., though (like Dremels) instead of hand carving in some cases. But some natural stone (like “soapstone”) is very soft and fairly easy and quick to carve. Diane B.
