How is the most time-consuming bronze sculpture in the world cast?

Sculpture is one of the mainstream arts, and bronze sculpture is the main form of sculpture. Since bronze works have appeared in ancient civilizations in the world, they are also a symbol of world civilization. The earliest bronze ware appeared in the Mesopotamian region of West Asia between about 5,000 and 6,000 years ago. The bronze ware of China's Shang, Zhou and pre-Qin dynasties was exquisitely made, and its fine products are the most precious collections of the world's major museums such as the National Museum and the British Museum.

The production process of bronze sculptures is complicated, but now the most complicated and time-consuming bronze sculpture casting in the world is none other than the works of Barry Stein in the United States. Because the same size bronze sculpture, whether in Europe or in China, the complete casting period takes about 20 to 30 days, and Stein's work takes a full 6 months to complete!

American sculptor Barry Stein is a representative of realist artists in the world and is known as the master of extreme realism. The shapes of bronze wild animals created by Stein, gorgeous horses, flying eagles, a pair of antlers colliding with gorgeous elks, proud frogs, and brave warriors are all Stein's works.

Stein's works are famous for their pursuit of perfect details. He chooses wood as the creative material. In the end, his works are perfect from the overall to the details of the parts that most people cannot see! The wooden prototype can maximize the details of the work, but compared with the clay model, once there are defects that cannot be repaired, new materials can only be used to start over!

The characteristics of Stein's works, only one copper foundry in the entire United States can meet Stein's requirements, and Stein's sculptures and their gorgeous and complicated details make his works in the copper foundry pure hand-made cycle more than 6 months, which is 5 to 8 times the production period of ordinary pure copper sculptures!

How Bronze Sculptures Are Made

Bronze statues are made of bronze (an alloy of metals such as copper, tin and lead). As an alloy, bronze has the advantages of high hardness, low melting point, good metallic luster and corrosion resistance compared to pure copper. Unlike traditional handicrafts that generally use low-priced brass, international and domestic sculptures and artworks prefer precious bronze as the material. The technology of bronze casting is represented by the lost wax method (wax melting method).

The main process of casting is: first, the sculptor creates a sculpture model, and then goes through a series of processes to make a wax mold of the object to be cast with materials such as beeswax, and then applies refractory materials on the surface of the wax mold to harden it into a casting outer mold, so that the wax melts and flows out, thus forming a mold cavity; then make a mold core or inner mold; then, cast copper liquid into the mold cavity, and after solidification and cooling, the object to be cast is obtained.

Sculpture model: The sculptor needs to compose the picture first, and then create the prototype of the sculpture. The most commonly used prototypes of sculptures are plaster and clay. American sculptor Barry Stein uses wood as the material for creating sculpture models. The sculptor himself or according to the opinions of the partners decides the number of custom bronze sculptures to be produced. The common ones are 8, 16, 30, 50 and 99. In Europe and the United States, it is also common to have more than 100 pieces. This depends on market demand.

Mold remaking: The factory remakes the silicone mold based on the model created by the sculptor. From here on, it is generally the work of the copper foundry, but generally the artist will also participate in quality control. The silicone mold is made by brushing silicone on the model layer by layer and letting it dry, and then divided into two halves to make a silicone mold.

Wax pouring: Pour wax water (yellow wax or beeswax) into the silicone mold to form a wax shell.

Wax repair: Modify the wax shell to ensure the perfect performance of the wax model

Shell making: Pour the slurry inside and outside the wax shell, attach the high-temperature refractory slurry material to the wax mold, and wait for the slurry to solidify, which is also called shell making. The domestic production process often uses sand to make sand shells. Most of the copper casting processes in Europe and the United States have abandoned sand materials, so that the surface of the final bronze work can be smooth and free of sand holes.

Dewaxing and roasting: Put the wax shell after slurrying into high-temperature steam, and the wax in the shell will melt and flow out when it is heated. Space for the sculpture will be left in the shell, and then the shell will be placed in a roasting furnace and heated to about 800 degrees to form a hard shell.

Casting: Heat the prepared copper to about 1000 degrees to melt and cast it into the shell. The formula of bronze is one of the process secrets of each copper foundry, which has a direct impact on the subsequent polishing and grinding.

Shelling: Use a high-pressure water gun to knock down the sand shell

Polishing and grinding: Polish the copper billet to a bright finish.

Engraving: Stein's works are known for their complex details, and there are many forms of various textures on the surface. One of the most time-consuming links in the casting of his works is the processing of these details, which requires huge manpower to engrave and achieve the best quality effect.

Welding: A large sculpture is cast in different parts, and each part needs to be welded into a whole after processing.

Overall polishing: The work is carefully polished as a whole to remove solder joints and defects.

Thermal coloring: Chemical high-temperature coloring is another costly step in Stein's works. Unlike ordinary bronze works that only have a single color or a few colors, Stein's works generally have dozens of color numbers, requiring coloring craftsmen to repeatedly color at high temperatures dozens of times.

Surface waxing: The surface of the copper piece after coloring is sealed with a protective agent to prevent oxidation and discoloration. This process is also suitable for the maintenance of sculptures at home. If there is no other material, the maintenance wax of solid wood furniture can also be used.