THE ART OF CASTING BRONZE IN JAPAN, 631 



A drawing- or rougli model is sometimes used by the artist for liis 

 guidanee, but not unfrequently lie works without either, and even wheu 

 using them he does not merely copy their lines or the exact details of 

 their ornament; in fact, often he departs from them altogether, if he 

 feels that by a modification of their outlines or decoration the beauty 

 of his subject may be increased. 



In preparing this model on the core he exerts his utmost skill ; no 

 plaster casts are made from it; if the casting is a failure, liis work — it 

 may have been a masterpiece — is lost, but if successful, it bears in 

 imperishable bronze all the subtle and delicate touches of his hand. 

 When the model is completed the ingates or openings C C C and 

 D D D (fig. 7), through which the metal is i)oured into the mold, and 

 the necessary outlets for the escape of the air and gases and for running 

 out the wax, are molded on it, and in some objects pins of bronze are 

 inserted in it to aid in keeping the core in position. The ingates for 

 castings of moderate size, especially for those of considerable height, 

 are not placed only at the top of the mold, but also in one or more tiers 

 around its sides. Thus in fig. 7 we have four ingates (A A A A) a 

 little above the middle, and three (B B B) on the top of the mold. The 

 object in thus placing them being to diminish some of the disadvan- 

 tages of the "descending" method of casting which have been pre- 

 viously alluded to. For thin castings this practice is extremely 

 successful, a much smaller proportion being defective from vesicular 

 structure caused by entangled air, from burned i)atches. and from "cold 

 sets," than when the ingates are all at the top. 



The wax model is now coated with a thin layer of line clay, applied 

 with a brush with great care. After drying, other layers are similarly 

 applied, until the crust is sufficiently thick to permit additional layers 

 of somewhat coarser clays to be put on with the hand and tools, to give 

 the requisite strength to the mold. The mixture of clays for the first 

 layers is very carefully prepared, and is sometimes mixed with finely 

 powdered porcelain, to prevent them from being melted by the molten 

 metal. The formation of a fused crust on the casting, which Ls always 

 difficult to remove, destroys its surface, and mars the sharpness of its 

 designs, is. thus avoided. 



The mold is then dried very slowly in a warm part of the foundry. 

 When dry, the wooden core is removed and the wax is then melted out 

 by means of a carefully regulated charcoal fire, by which both the hol- 

 low core and the outside of the mold are heated, and at the same time 

 all traces of moisture are expelled and its walls baked hard. 



PREPARATION OF THE MOLD (IN SAND OR LOAM). 



Molding in sand or loam has not been extensively practiced by the 

 Japanese for artistic castings, with the exception — as I have stated 

 above — of fiat objects, such as coins and mirrors, and others of simple 

 forms in which no parts bf the ornament are in undercut relief. Even 



