Archaeological history Lost-wax casting

1 archaeological history

1.1 middle east
1.2 near east
1.3 south asia
1.4 egypt
1.5 greek, roman , mediterranean
1.6 east asia
1.7 southeast asia
1.8 europe
1.9 west africa
1.10 latin america

archaeological history

replica of bronze sceptre nahal mishmar hoard.


middle east

some of oldest known examples of lost-wax technique objects discovered in cave of treasure (nahal mishmar) hoard in southern israel, , belong chalcolithic period (4500–3500 bc). conservative carbon 14 estimates date items c.3700 bc, making them more 5700 years old.

near east

in mesopotamia, c. 3500–2750 bc, lost-wax technique used small-scale, , later large-scale copper , bronze statues. 1 of earliest surviving lost-wax castings small lion pendant uruk iv. sumerian metalworkers practicing lost-wax casting approximately c. 3500–3200 bc. later examples northeastern mesopotamia/anatolia include great tumulus @ gordion (late 8th century bc), other types of urartian cauldron attachments.

making sculpture using lost wax process @ bastar district, chhattisgarh, india


south asia

the oldest known example of lost-wax technique comes 6,000-year-old copper, wheel-shaped amulet found @ mehrgarh, pakistan.

metalcasting indus valley civilization began around 3500 bc in mohenjodaro area, produced 1 of earliest known examples of lost-wax casting, indian bronze figurine named “dancing girl” dates 5,000 years harappan period (c. 3300–1300 bc). other examples include buffalo, bull , dog found @ mohenjodaro , harappa, 2 copper figures found @ harappan site lothal in district of ahmedabad of gujarat, , covered cart wheels missing , complete cart driver found @ chanhudaro.

during post-harappan period, hoards of copper , bronze implements made lost-wax process known uttar pradesh, bihar, madhya pradesh, odisha, andhra pradesh , west bengal. gold , copper ornaments, apparently hellenistic in style, made cire perdue found @ ruins @ sirkap. 1 example of indo-greek art dates 1st century bc, juvenile figure of harpocrates excavated @ taxila. bronze icons produced during 3rd , 4th centuries, such buddha image @ amaravati, , images of rama , kartikeya in guntur district of andhra pradesh. further 2 bronze images of parsvanatha , small hollow-cast bull came sahribahlol, gandhara, , standing tirthankara (2nd, 3rd century ad) chausa in bihar should mentioned here well. other notable bronze figures , images have been found in rupar, mathura (in uttar pradesh) , brahmapura, maharashtra.

gupta , post-gupta period bronze figures have been recovered following sites: saranath, mirpur-khas (in pakistan), sirpur (district of raipur), balaighat (near mahasthan in bangladesh), akota (near vadodara, gujarat), vasantagadh, chhatarhi, barmer , chambi (in rajesthan). producing images lost-wax process reached peak 750 1100, , still remained prevalent in south india between 1500 , 1850. technique used throughout india, in neighbouring countries nepal, tibet, ceylon, burma , siam.

egypt

the egyptians practicing cire perdue mid 3rd millennium bc, shown dynastic bracelets , gold jewellery. inserted spouts ewers (copper water vessels) fourth dynasty (old kingdom) made lost-wax method. hollow castings, such louvre statuette fayum find appeared during middle kingdom, followed solid cast statuettes (like squatting, nursing mother, in brooklyn) of second intermediate/early new kingdom. hollow casting of statues represented in new kingdom kneeling statue of tuthmosis iv (british museum, london) , head fragment of ramesses v (fitzwilliam museum, cambridge). hollow castings become more detailed , continue eighteenth dynasty, shown black bronze kneeling figure of tutankhamun (museum of university of pennsylvania). cire perdue used in mass-production during late period graeco-roman times when figures of deities cast personal devotion , votive temple offerings. nude female-shaped handles on bronze mirrors cast lost-wax process.

late cycladic (17th century bc) gold ibex sculpture 10 cm long lost-wax cast feet , head , repoussé body, excavation on santorini


greek, roman , mediterranean

the lost-wax technique known in aegean during bronze age, particularly in second millennium bc. direct imitations , local derivations of oriental, syro-palestinian , cypriot figurines found in late bronze age sardinia, local production of figurines 11th 10th century bc. late bronze age sites in cyprus have produced cast bronze figures of humans , animals. 1 example male figure found @ enkomi. 3 objects cyprus (held in metropolitan museum of art in new york) cast lost-wax technique 13th , 12th centuries bc, namely, amphorae rim, rod tripod, , cast tripod. cremation graves (mainly 8th-7th centuries bc, continuing until beginning of 4th century) necropolis of paularo (italian oriental alps) contained fibulae, pendants , other copper-based objects made lost-wax process. etruscan examples, such bronze anthropomorphic handle bocchi collection (national archaeological museum of adria), dating 6th 5th centuries bc, made cire perdue. of handles in bocchi collection, bronze vessels found in adria (rovigo, italy) made using lost-wax technique. better known lost-wax produced items classical world include “praying boy” c. 300 bc (in berlin museum), statue of hera vulci (etruria), which, statues, cast in several parts joined together. other, earlier examples show assembly of lost-wax cast pieces include bronze head of chatsworth apollo , bronze head of aphrodite satala (turkey) british museum. geometric bronzes such 4 copper horses of san marco (venice, 2nd century) other prime examples of statues cast in many parts.

moire copper ban, chu, before 552 bc


east asia

there great variability in use of lost-wax method in east asia. casting method of bronze during shang , zhou dynasties (c. 1500–500 bc) has commonly been assumed lost-mould method. further investigations have revealed not case clear piece-mould casting method principal technique used manufacture bronze vessels in china. lost-wax technique did not appear in northern china until 6th century bc. lost-wax casting known rōgata in japanese, , dates yayoi period, c. 200 bc. famous piece made cire perdue bronze image of buddha in temple of todaiji monastery @ nara. made in sections between 743 , 749, allegedly using 7 tons of wax.

southeast asia

the inhabitants of ban na di casting bronze c. 1200 bc 200 ad, using lost-wax technique manufacture bangles. (bangles made lost-wax process characteristic of northeast thailand.) of bangles ban na di revealed dark grey substance between central clay core , metal, on analysis identified unrefined form of insect wax. decorative items, bracelets , rings, made cire perdue @ non nok tha , ban chiang. there technological , material parallels between northeast thailand , vietnam concerning lost-wax technique. sites exhibiting artifacts made lost-mould process in vietnam, such dong son drums, come dong son, , phung nguyen cultures, such 1 sickle , figure of seated individual go mun (near phung nguyen, bac bo region), dating go mun phase (end of general b period, until 7th century bc).

the gloucester candlestick, 12th century, v&a museum no. 7649-1861


europe

the dunaverney (1050–910 bc) , little thetford (1000–701 bc) flesh-hooks have been shown made using lost-wax process. little thetford flesh-hook, in particular, employed distinctly inventive construction methods. intricate gloucester candlestick (1104–1113 ad) made single-piece wax model, given complex system of gates , vents before being invested in mould.

detailed 9th century bronze casting lost wax in form of coiled snake, igbo-ukwu, nigeria



sculpture ife state using lost-wax casting technique, nigeria, late 11th-14th century.


west africa

cast bronzes known have been produced in africa 9th century ad in igboland (igbo-ukwu) in nigeria, 12th century ad in yorubaland (ife) , 15th century ad in kingdom of benin. portrait heads remain.

latin america

the lost-wax casting tradition developed peoples of nicaragua, costa rica, panama, colombia, northwest venezuela, andean america, , western portion of south america. lost-wax casting produced of region s typical gold wire , delicate wire ornament, such fine ear ornaments. process employed in prehispanic times in colombia s muisca , sinú cultural areas. 2 lost-wax moulds, 1 complete , 1 partially broken, found in shaft , chamber tomb in vereda of pueblo tapado in municipio of montenegro (department of quindío), dated pre-columbian period. lost-wax method did not appear in mexico until 10th century, , thereafter used in western mexico make wide range of bell forms.