A bluish-white metal used extensively for cast and sheet-metal sculpture in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Zinc is a relatively soft, low-melting metal used for sculpture, architectural ornament, monuments, fountains, and decorative figures, particularly during the nineteenth century. It was cheaper and easier to fabricate than bronze and was frequently finished to imitate more expensive materials.
Etymology
From German Zink, of uncertain earlier origin.
Sculptor Notes
Zinc sculpture is frequently mistaken for bronze, cast iron, or stone because historic surfaces were often deliberately finished to imitate those materials.
References
https://mci.si.edu/zinc-sculpture; https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/conservation-preservation-publications/canadian-conservation-institute-notes/care-zinc.html