646 



THE AET OF CASTING BRONZE IN JAPAN. 



ard composition for tlieir alloy. I may hence be permitted to suggest 

 the proportions iu which, in my opinion, the metals should be mixed to 

 produce a bronze which, for castings of moderate size and thickness, 

 would secure many of the advantages possessed by it. They are as 

 follows : 



The zinc to be omitted from castings with very delicate lines of ornament. 



Specimens of each of these alloys are on the table for your inspec- 

 tion, also a specimen of ordinary gun metal, C, containing 2 jier cent of 

 zinc, for comparison with them. They do not differ much in tensile 

 strength, that of A being 13.25 tons, of B 12.19 tons, and of C 14.29 

 tons per square inch. These alloys have been kindly prepared for me, 

 and their tensile strengths determined by the Broughton Copper Com- 

 pany (Manchester), who are specially skilled in the manufacture of 

 copper alloys. 



. The other alloys, which are not contained in the " karakane " group, 

 do not require a lengthy consideration, as they are much less fre- 

 quently made use of by artists. Thus the simj)le copper-tin alloys 

 which were employed in prehistoric times are not found in use after 

 the introduction of '' karakane" from China until comparatively 

 recently, and then only occasionally for mirrors. 



Neither have the copper-zinc alloys, " Shinchu," or brass (Table II, 

 Nos. 24 and 25), been much iu favor among artists. They were 

 unknown in Japan before the establishment of Buddhism, and were 

 probably introduced contemporaneously with that religion from China 

 (sixth century A. C). Their use iu art has been almost exclusively 

 restricted to the production of the ceremonial vessels and utensils of 

 temples and shrines, and especially for the " Go-gusoku," or five orna- 

 ments of the Buddhist altar. 



Even when a yellow metal is needed for the purposes of decorative 

 ornament brass is seldom used, copper coated with gold being jireferred, 

 the rich color and quality of the gold surface being more pleasing to 

 the Japanese than the harsher tones of the copper-zinc alloy. Hence 

 there is scarcely a single example in the country of any great work of 

 art executed in brass. 



Occasionally the yellow bronze, " sentoku" (Table II, No. 26), con- 

 sisting of copper, tin, and zinc — an alloy occupying an intermediate 

 position between "karakane" and brass — is used instead of the latter 

 alloy. It is, however, probably not older than the fifteenth century. 

 An old Chinese legend records that it was accidentally discovered after 



