Choosing the right size for your pooja room
A simple way to match a bronze to a shelf, a niche or a floor.
How a lost-wax bronze is made
Seven stages, from beeswax to the final chase, and why the mould is broken.
Every bronze in our shop is made by the lost-wax method, which has been used in this part of the Cauvery delta since Chola times.
It begins with wax. The sthapathi mixes beeswax with resin from the kungiliyam tree and models the full figure by hand, down to the fingernails and the pattern on the waistband. For an 18 inch Nataraja this alone takes two weeks.
The wax is then coated in three layers of fine clay from the Cauvery bank, each layer dried in the shade. Wax channels are added so metal can flow in and air can escape. When the clay is dry, the mould is heated and the wax runs out, leaving a hollow shaped exactly like the figure.
The metal is melted in a furnace and poured into the hot mould in one pour. Once it cools, the mould is broken away. This is why every piece is unique: there is no mould left to make a second one.
The raw casting is rough and dark. Over the next weeks it is chased, filed and finished by hand, and the eyes are opened last.
