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The Differences Between Lost Wax Art by Artists and Mechanical Molded Statues Cast by Machine "Less
than 10% of bronze statues sold in India to tourists are made using the
Lost Wax Method. The shame is that most of these pieces are sold
as Lost Wax cast statues with Lost Wax prices as well." The purpose of this article is to educate people on the differences between a statue cast mechanically and a statue cast using the lost wax method. What is a mechanically molded bronze statue? A mechanically molded bronze statue, is a mass produced bronze statue that is made by a machine. The mold of a particular figure can be used to make repeated castings of sometimes up to 100 statues from a single mold in very little time! For instance
for a 15" statue, up to 20 mechanically molded pieces can be made in
a day with minimal postproduction filing. Each mechanically molded
statue, from start to finish, takes 30 minutes to make. A man made, lost
wax statue of the same piece would take a group of artisans up to 3 weeks time
to make. First, they must make a model in wax, cover the wax model with 6 layers of
molding, manually fire and pour the bronze and then post production filing
(for more on the Lost Wax Method, click
here.)
A staggering difference in time and money. Because of the amazing
difference in investment, many immoral stores both in India and elsewhere
who sell statues find it much more profitable to sell, inexpensively made,
mechanical pieces as if they were lost wax method pieces. Differences Between Lost Wax Cast Statues & Mechanically Molded Statues Time to Make a Statue Mechanically molded statues are factory made by machines. Post production filing is done only in certain spots of the bronze after the piece is finished. It takes about 30 minutes to finish a 15" mechanically molded piece. Up to 20 pieces can be completed in one day. Lost wax pieces take a group of artisans anywhere between 14 days to a year, depending on size, to complete a single piece. The artisans don't continually work on one statue the entire time. Many different statues are in different stages of production. A 15" lost wax piece takes 2 weeks to complete compared to 30 minutes for a mechanical mold. ___________________________________________________________________________________ The Halo
______________________________________________________________________________________ The Eyes Molded pieces sometimes carve small circles for eyes. The reason they do this is because all statues used for puja, temple worship, have pupils carved into their eyes. Temple statues are believed by Hindus to actually be a manifestation of the god. In order to actually worship the god at the temple puja you must be "seen" by the god. For this reason temple statues have eyes that can "see". A lost wax piece that is not explicitly made for temple worship will not have pupils carved into it. Only lost wax pieces cast with larger amounts of silver and gold are used for gods in temples. _____________________________________________________________________________________ The
Base
Unfortunately, many mechanical molds now have bronze plates inserted into their bases complete with filing marks to deceive people into believing they are lost wax pieces.
______________________________________________________________________________ Welding
______________________________________________________________________________ Filing
Some
key areas to look at are around the ears/earrings of a piece. In
mechanically molded statues the areas between the ears and earrings are usually
connected by extra bronze. It must then be filed down after the casting
to get rid of the excess. Look for filing marks in these areas.
The piece above has been filed around its neck to hide the welding marks left from joining the head to the body.
___________________________________________________________________________________ Brahmin's
Thread
__________________________________________________________________________________________ A
Near Miss!
Raja is a
friend and trader who deals in Lost Wax cast bronze statues as well as
mechanical molded pieces. A dishonest trader sold him the Shiva and
Parvati statue (seen in the right of all of the above photographs) saying that it was a
lost wax piece and charged him a price associated with a lost wax piece.
It was an extremely good mechanical mold with lots of filing done after the
piece was cast to make it look like a lost wax piece. Even a fake bronze plate was
put in the underside of the base. Only after carefully inspecting the
piece and noticing the filing around the neck (pictured above) and the dull
details around the crown of Shiva was he able to positively declare that it
was a mechanical piece. He has since returned it to the trader and
received his money back. Test Yourself Which of the following pieces are Lost Wax pieces and which are mechanical molds?
1. Mechanical Mold
It is
extremely difficult to distinguish between the two types of casting without
being able to see the statue first hand. This is especially true with
bronze statues that are 12" or smaller. In larger pieces
the differences are more obvious. There is nothing wrong with making or selling mechanically molded bronze sculptures. However, there is something morally wrong with a trader who sells mechanically molded pieces as if they are lost wax pieces for lost wax prices. Written by Kyle Tortora, founder of Lotus Sculputure |
In
lost wax pieces the halo usually remains separated from the back of the head
of the statue. The exception being with pieces up to 6" tall where
the halo is joined. 
