Glossary Metals, materials and technology
Lost-wax casting
Also called: cire perdue
A casting method in which a wax model is coated in clay, the wax is melted out, and molten metal is poured into the hollow left behind.
Because each clay mould has to be broken to free the casting, lost-wax work produces one-off pieces, and it allows shapes far more intricate than the open stone or clay moulds used for axes and ingots. It was the standard method for complex bronzes across the ancient Near East and the Aegean.
On Cyprus the technique reached its peak in the Late Bronze Age bronze stands: rod tripods and four-sided openwork stands, some on wheels, with panels showing ingot-bearers, lyre-players and sphinxes. These stands were exported to Crete, the Aegean, the Levant and Sardinia. See copper metallurgy.
Full entry: Copper Metallurgy in Ancient Cyprus
Related terms
- Crucible
A small heat-resistant clay vessel in which metal, or sometimes ore, was heated until molten and then poured into a mould.
- Sphinx
A mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head, usually winged in Cypriot and Near Eastern art, used as a guardian and royal emblem.
- Smelting
Heating ore with a fuel such as charcoal until the metal separates from the rock, leaving a waste called slag behind.