650 THE ART OF CASTING BRONZE IN JAPAN. 



required effect of this stage of the process has been obtained it is taken 

 out aud washed with water, and also with a de(!Oction of Galamagrostis. 

 It is then carefully heated over a brazier containing burning charcoal, 

 being turned round from time to time until every j)art has been brought 

 to the proper temperature. During this operation it is frequently 

 wetted Avith the above decoction or with a i^ickling solution, and the 

 amount of time and patience bestowed on this manipulation is almost 

 incredible. The casting is again submitted to the action of the pickle, 

 again heated as above described, and these operations are repeated 

 until the desired platina has been produced. 



It is obvious that large bronzes can not be thus treated. The pick- 

 ling solution can only be applied to them in washes, and their action 

 is thus merely sufficient to produce a very thin film of altered metal, 

 scarcely, if at all, more than a stain, and the true patina only results 

 from the action of time. A green petina, in imitation of that of ancient 

 bronzes which have been ex})osed to the action of the weather, is 

 obtained by treating the casting with |)lum vinegar, to which common 

 salt is occasionally added, and exposing it to the air, and sometimes this 

 is supplemented by burial in the ground for varying lengths of time. 

 This patina, although often very beautiful, is, I need hardly say, of an 

 entirely different character from the mixture of carbonates, oxychlo- 

 rides, and oxides of which the true old patina consists. 



It Avill be seen from the foregoing that much practice, careful observa- 

 tion, and patient labor are required for the successful performance of 

 these operations. The artist has no definite rules for his guidance in 

 carrying them out, each seems to have his own methods of procedure, 

 aud these he varies according to his ex])erience. His success does not 

 depend on the use of solutions of definite composition, or on the exact 

 proportions of the metals in his alloys, but rather on his ability to cor- 

 rectly modify the manipulation of the various stages of the i^rocess, so 

 that the patina he aims at may be infallibly produced. These are the 

 chief features of what may be termed the "wet" method of producing 

 patina. The oldest bronzes, however, owe their patinas almost exclu- 

 sively to the action of time, and those of intermediate age generally to 

 "dry" methods, in which they were exposed to carefully regulated 

 temperatures in furnaces heated by charcoal. These "dry" methods 

 have now been almost entirely displaced by the "wet" methods just 

 described, and were not in use in the foundries in Osaka to which I 

 had access, so that I have not seen them in operation. Several speci- 

 mens of bronzes, with magnificent patinas, are exhibited from the col- 

 lections of my friends, Mr. Alfred Cock, Mr. Swan, and Mr. Tomkinson. 



From the account I have just given you — I fear a very imperfect 

 one — of the methods of casting bronze in Japan, it will be seen that 

 they do not differ very greatly from ours. The chief differences lie in 

 the use of the artist's model itself, in the preparation of the mold, 

 in the heating of the mold, and the composition of the bronze. AH 

 these we can imitate; but the special excellence of Japanese bronze 



