Sculpture techniques: bronze casting

Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Giuseppe Piamontini, about1700-10. Museum no. A.32-1959

Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Giuseppe Piamontini, about 1700-10. Museum no. A.32-1959. Patinated bronze plaque.

Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, and often also contains lead or zinc. It is strong and durable but can also capture the fine, complex detail within a casting mould. The term 'bronze' is often used for other metals, including brass, which is an alloy of copper and zinc.

Bronze has been used in Europe since antiquity to produce tools, weapons, sculpture and decorative works. This continued throughout the medieval period. In the 15th century there was then a deliberate revival of the forms and techniques of ancient Greece and Rome.

There are two basic methods of casting a bronze. Sand casting is a simple technique that uses moulds made of compact, fine sand. Lost-wax casting is a complex process using wax models.

In the 'direct' method, the original wax model is used and therefore destroyed. In the 'indirect' method, plaster moulds are taken from the original wax. These can then be reused many times.

 

 

 

Watch a video demonstrating one method of lost wax casting

Hercules and Antaeus, about 1520s. Museum no. A.95-1956

Hercules and Antaeus, about 1520s. Museum no. A.95-1956. Bronze. Adapted from a classical marble group then in the Cortile del Belvedere of the Vatican. X-rays of this group show that the arms were cast separately and then joined to the torso.

Peasant, Jules Dalou, about 1894. Museum no. A.31-1971

Peasant, Jules Dalou, about 1894. Museum no. A.31-1971. Bronze, cast in the lost wax method. Dalou believed in traditional craftsmanship and disapproved of the contemporary practice of producing sand-cast sculpture in large quantities. This model is signed by the artist as well as by the foundry that cast it. It was intended for a large-scale monument but never brought to completion.

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