How is a bronze made from a clay sculpture?
This is a complex process called “Lost Wax Casting” that involves over 30 individual steps completed at a fine arts foundry by skilled artisans. The simplest summary of the process is that we go from a positive original sculpture to a negative rubber mold, to a positive wax, to a negative ceramic shell investment mold, to a positive bronze casting. First, the artist provides the foundry with the original sculpture. This work can be created using a variety of materials, although clay is the most common. The sculpture is then turned over to a professional mold maker who will create a flexible “negative” rubber mold of the work, faithfully capturing the smallest details of the original. This flexible mold is cradled by a rigid plaster “mother” mold to provide support. This is the first “positive to negative” step. The rubber and plaster mold is then turned over to the foundry where it is used to create a wax copy of the original clay sculpture. This is first “negative to positive” step. M
