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Reference.org
Lost-wax casting
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<p>Lost-wax casting – also called <a href="/facts/Investment_casting/meInC83m">investment casting</a>, precision casting, or <i>cire perdue</i> – is the process by which a duplicate <a href="/facts/Sculpture/F01q8gtb">sculpture</a> (often a <a href="/facts/Metal/pqQVs8QU">metal</a>, such as <a href="/facts/Silver/xXe41BGg">silver</a>, <a href="/facts/Gold/1znknojp">gold</a>, <a href="/facts/Brass/pe8EHk6x">brass</a>, or <a href="/facts/Bronze/YCYCVIKt">bronze</a>) is <a href="/facts/Casting/cFJ0hPuU">cast</a> from an original sculpture. Intricate works can be achieved by this method. </p><p>The oldest known examples of this technique are approximately 6,500 years old (4550–4450 BC) and attributed to gold artefacts found at Bulgaria's <a href="/facts/Varna_Necropolis/qLRlhIkB">Varna Necropolis</a>. A copper amulet from <a href="/facts/Mehrgarh/7JfFIqW5">Mehrgarh</a>, <a href="/facts/Indus_Valley_civilization/6xM4aK23">Indus Valley civilization</a>, in present-day Pakistan, is dated to circa 4,000 BC. Cast copper objects, found in the <a href="/facts/Nahal_Mishmar_hoard/sqQ8KdoB">Nahal Mishmar hoard</a> in southern <a href="/facts/Israel/dEe3IcaY">Israel</a>, which belong to the <a href="/facts/Chalcolithic/asevzSXh">Chalcolithic</a> period (4500–3500 BC), are estimated, from <a href="/facts/Carbon-14_dating/qjNglhKP">carbon-14 dating</a>, to date to circa 3500 BC. Other examples from somewhat later periods are from Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC. Lost-wax casting was widespread in Europe until the 18th century, when a <a href="/facts/Piece-moulding/1GkAeyCx">piece-moulding</a> process came to predominate. </p><p>The steps used in casting small bronze sculptures are fairly standardized, though the process today varies from <a href="/facts/Foundry/Hww9Nrmr">foundry</a> to foundry (in modern industrial use, the process is called investment casting). Variations of the process include: "lost <a href="/facts/Mold_(manufacturing)/1GkAeyCx">mould</a>", which recognizes that materials other than <a href="/facts/Wax/MAXhjzNh">wax</a> can be used (such as <a href="/facts/Tallow/JNWsebPc">tallow</a>, <a href="/facts/Resin/r1uVThQ8">resin</a>, <a href="/facts/Tar/7SplkFWL">tar</a>, and <a href="/facts/Textile/PJrVeM5S">textile</a>); and "waste wax process" (or "waste mould casting"), because the mould is destroyed to remove the cast item. </p>