Well, this is intriguing. Lots of possibilities. I will say most
people would write from the angle that the original idol is gold,
while the fake is made of inferior materials. Why? Because to get
enough gold, for a figurine 8"-12" high, will be quite
costly–probably in the tens of thousands of dollars, possibly in
the 6 figure range, depending on the thickness of the gold to hold
up under its own weight and the art work (technique) involved. Will
your story be plausible if the fake is made from real gold? Will the
cost of the fake justify the risk that must surely be involved? That
much money will have to have a huge motivator.
If I were to explain to a customer how I would approach making this
replica, and presuming it is to made entirely of gold and they’re
willing to pay for the gold and the labor, it would go something
like this:
There are two methods to accomplish this. The presumption there is a
fair amount of detail to form a 3-D figurine that will be
identifiable as a “thing” rather than just an amorphous lump. It can
be made from gold sheet and repousseed to give it form, or it can be
cast.
Gold is heavy. Gold is malleable. Alloying gold so that it has the
strength to hold its form, and not collapse under its own weight, is
suitable for casting, but it will have a thick wall. Also, there
will be seams on the inside where the parting lines of the shell
mold will come together, and are inaccessible. If it is a solid
casting, then it will be so heavy, a single person will not be able
to carry it easily and it will break a toe quite easily if it should
slip from the grasp. Go get yourself a sizeable lump of lead (since
lead and gold weigh close to the same for the same mass) that will
represent the 8"-12" high figurine and you’ll see what I mean.
The repousse method will be more feasible. It requires considerably
less gold, but it will require a master craftsman to execute the
design and solder it together. I’m not talking someone who is just
good, but a world class craftsman, in order to make the two halves
match, know the gauge of the gold needed for a figurine of that size
so it will not collapse or dent easily from rough handling. It will
require hundreds of hours of labor. Valentin, jump in on this one.
To get someone of this caliber to do this type of work, and be
entrusted with that much gold, first has to be of high integrity,
and would not compromise a lifetime of work and trust to take on
such a project. They have to know just how much the metal can take,
in terms of annealing (softening) and tempering (hardening) the
metal, so it doesn’t crack under stress, doesn’t collapse from lack
of strength and too much weight. So, secondly they must have
knowledge of this particular type of material. Someone who works in
aluminum, or another metal, will not be able to replicate the
results in gold.
Add to this that it is difficult to replicate someone else’s style
when it comes to highly artistic form, especially in a 3-D form, and
many complications arise. They will have made their own tools, which
automatically will cause differences, in both style and execution,
to arise.
I think as you get more responses, you’ll find you might have to
change a few things in your story to make it plausible. I’m one of
those people that tend to pick apart fictitious stories because it
hasn’t had basic research done, so you’ve got off on the right foot
by asking people how it can be accomplished. You might also contact
the members of the Society of American Silversmiths, since they tend
to do large hollow forms.
Good luck on your story.