The history of using bronze ware in China is very long and can be traced back to the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. Ancient Chinese bronzes, simple and dignified, elegant in shape, are the crystallization of the wisdom of our ancestors.

Chinese bronzes run through the entire history of civilization of our Chinese nation, forming a unique and colorful bronze culture, which is an important part of Chinese culture, occupies an important position in history.

The alloy composition of ancient bronzes is an important aspect of distinguishing authenticity. Ancient bronzes were smelted and cast with a certain percentage of alloys. Different times, the copper content of bronzes is different. For example, in the bronzes of the Shang Dynasty, copper generally accounts for more than 70%; in the bronzes of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period and the Qin and Han Dynasties, the proportion of copper and tin is generally 79:21.

After the Song Dynasty, the content of tin was reduced, the content of lead was increased, and a certain amount of zinc was added. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the period of the Republic of China, bronze wares were basically made of brass.

Generally speaking, the higher the copper content of the utensil, the deeper the oxidation and the thicker the rust plaque.

There are many casting methods for ancient Chinese bronzes, such as Fan casting, split casting, lost wax method, etc., but Fan casting is the most widely used casting method. Due to the characteristics of the times, most of them do not use the Fan Casting method.

3 common casting methods for bronzes

👉What is Fan Casting? And how to identify?

Fan casting method, also known as die casting method, first uses clay to make molds, sculpts various mirror back patterns and inscriptions, and then fires them in the shade to make them into master molds. Fan, melting the alloy, pouring the alloy into the pottery fan cavity to make a vessel, after removing the fan, it is cleaned and polished to become the finished bronze ware.

Fan casting method divides the model of an utensil into several models, including inner and outer models.

When casting, the number of fans is closed, and the copper liquid is poured into the gap between the inner and outer fans. This gap is the so-called casting mark. At the joint of Tao and Fan, Fan marks will be left no matter what. It should be noted that the casting marks and casting warts in the hidden parts of the ears, feet, lower abdomen or bottom of bronze ware cannot be worn away.

Compared with the traces of the lost wax method used in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the traces of the utensils cast by the pottery method are completely different. The marks left by the lost wax casting method are concave.

👉So, what exactly is the lost wax method? And how to identify?

The principle of lost wax casting technology in ancient China originated from the burning method, which was originally a precision casting method applied to bronze utensils. Craftsmen use beeswax to model castings and finely process the beeswax molds to make intricate casting molds.

After the mold is made, the hollow part of the mold is filled with refractory mud and other materials to form a mud core, and the mold is further wrapped to form an outer mold. After the outer mold is solidified and shaped, the entire mold is heated and baked, and the beeswax is heated and melted and lost.

At this time, the entire mold becomes an empty shell that can be cast. After the copper water is poured into the "empty shell" mold to cool, it is cast into utensils. The mold shape made by the lost wax method can achieve the effect of exquisite and translucent hollowing out.

Today, the custom lost wax casting method is still the method used to bring out the finest details in metalwork.

👉What is the ceramic casting method? And how to identify?

Bronze ware is cast by the ceramic casting method, and there are copper sheets between the inner and outer fans to fix the thickness of the wall. This copper piece is left on the utensil and is called a gasket. Sometimes it is necessary to leave air holes during casting, and small holes will appear on the cast objects. After casting, repair marks will appear on the objects.

The patch marks are different from the gasket marks. Wherever there are holes, they are patched. The gaskets are regularly distributed on the lower abdomen and bottom of the utensils, while avoiding patterns and inscriptions.

In addition, the gaskets are made of broken copper pieces, which are different from the alloy composition of the utensils, and reflect different ground and color.

In conclusion

Bronze ware cast by ceramic casting method has uneven wall thickness. Ceramic casting are often embedded in the feet, ears, columns, etc. of the utensils, and they are often not taken out if the space is small. Fan soil is baked, usually red and gray, and very hard.

The main method to observe whether the bronze ware is cast by the ceramic casting method is to see whether the bronze ware has traces of involution of the blocks, that is, whether there is a "line", that is, whether there are involution marks at the joint.

Bronze utensils cast by the lost wax method usually have blisters of different sizes on the surface of the utensils. On the one hand, it is due to the problem of copper quality; There are often places where the copper liquid cannot be poured, and small shrinkage holes are formed.

In short, when we identify bronzes from the perspective of casting, we must pay attention to casting marks, casting nodules, fan soil, dislocation and other phenomena in casting technology.

After reading the above content, do you have an understanding of the three casting methods. We are a lost wax casting factory, providing customers with premium lost wax molds for sale, for more information, please contact us at any time.