The oily visage of a butter cow is an alluring sight at state fairs across the nation, but few people have taken the time to think about what’s inside them. Warning: It’s not more butter. Instead, like any large sculpture not hewn from a solid block of clay or ice (or sometimes butter), the cows and other large dairy-based sculptures are assembled around an internal framework, or armature. Paul Brooke, the lead sculptor for the American Dairy Association Mideast butter cow display at the Ohio State Fair, said that people have questioned why the sculpture was not made only of butter “over the years off and on.” It comes down to basic sculpting principles, he said. “It would work without the armatures if you could start with a huge block and just do the whole thing just by carving removal of butter, it would stand,” Mr. Brooke said.

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Persons: Paul Brooke, Mr, Brooke Organizations: American Dairy Association, Ohio State Fair