Lost wax casting

ORIGIN OF LOST WAX CASTING

Art can be archaic and abstract. About 40,000 years ago mankind invented art or perhaps art invented mankind; 40,000 years ago, presumably the oldest known works of art, an artist in what is today southern Germany carved a mammoth found in Vogelherd Cave.

Mammoth from Vogelherd Cave; oldest sculpture of animal in the world

It was and is still motivated by religion, politics, and place or simply by creativity. It serves as a mirror of its time. Though creative urge and artistic power vary according to ethnological and geographical basis as well as societal development of different cultures but still what remains common is the requirement of personal, intellectual or emotional dialogue between the artist and environment. Artists make use of certain techniques, sometimes perfecting them or even inventing new ones but without spiritual individuality, art could never be more than kitsch.

Similarly, Lost-wax casting technique with an archaeological history was and is being utilized, perfected and even reinvented by artists around the world. It was also known as Aegean during the Bronze Age, particularly in the second millennium BC. Widespread in all parts of the world this technique is still followed in Middle East, South Asia, Egypt, Greece, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America in their own specific designs and tradition inspired by their environment, culture and religion.

The oldest known examples of the lost-wax technique were the objects discovered in the Cave of the Treasure (Nahal Mishmar) hoard in southern Israel. Conservative Carbon 14 estimates date the items to 3700 BC, making them more than 5700 years old. However, lost-wax casting by the Indus Valley Civilization began in the Mohenjodaro area, which produced an Indian bronze figurine named the “dancing girl” dates 5,000 years back to the Harappan period. The most famous piece made by cire perdue was the bronze image of Buddha in the temple of the Todaiji monastery at Nara in Japan in 200 BC. Also, cast bronzes were known to be produced in Africa by the 9th century AD in Igboland (Igbo-Ukwu) in Nigeria, the 12th century AD in Yorubaland (Ife) and the 15th century AD in the kingdom of Benin depicting their culture and spirit.

Mohenjo Daro, The Dancing girl

Furthermore, we have direct literary evidence which dates back to Gupta period (320-550 AD) from India. The Shilpa shastras, a text from the Gupta Period (c. 320-550 AD), contains detailed information about casting images in metal. The 5th-century AD Vishnusamhita, an appendix to the Vishnu Purana, refers directly to the modelling of wax for making metal objects. Also, ancient Sanskrit text Mānasāra Silpa details casting idols in wax and is entitled “Maduchchhista vidhānam”, or the “lost wax method” whereas in a 16th-century treatise, the Uttarabhaga of the Śilparatna written by Srïkumāra gives detailed instructions on making a hollow casting.

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