Ancient Chinese Bronze

At the beginning, the shape of the bronze items are very simple. The items were hammered into shape. As the bronze gains popularity, more complex shapes needs to be made. Bronze was cast with clay molds. Complicated items were cast separately and forged together later on.

Later on, the lost wax casting came along, eliminated the need for forging for complicated bronze sculpture pieces. The lost wax casting method uses a wax core, which has the shape and design of the desired bronze sculpture, in a mold. When molten bronze is poured in, the wax liquefy and drains through an air escape. You can find details of the bronze lost wax casting method from here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_wax#Lost_wax_bronze-casting_process

Chinese bronze casting

Lost wax

China lost wax

Chinese bronze

Ancient bronze

Lost wax casting

Bronze casting

Forge bronze

Bronze statue

Lost wax bronze reproduction