Colored wax, food replica

Food replicas are samples of dishes generally displayed at restaurants and eateries.
The purpose of using food replicas is to provide visual information of the menu including the dishes themselves, as well as their names and prices. During the early Taishō Era (1910s), techniques for creating replicas of things evolved partly due to the lag of photographic techniques in Japan at the time. It was under such circumstances that health food moulds used by institutes of health sciences and other health related organizations was born. Agar jelly was applied over actual food items to create a mould, into which paraffin wax would then be poured. Washi paper or cotton lining was also placed at this stage to reinforce the mould. Finally, coloured was applied for finish. While it was common to make moulds out of gypsum, for food items agar was preferred for creating the mould.