After the mold has completely cooled usually the following
morning the piece is ready to enter the finishing stage of the process. First
the bronze must be released from the now burned, earthen mold. A hammer and
chisel are used to break open the mold. The worker must remove all the excess
earth that surrounds the bronze. Using the hammer and chisel he is able to
hammer out the earth that is baked into the hard to reach place like beneath the
arms or between the legs. When the worker finishes removing all the excess
earth from the bronze what is left is a blackened basic outline of the bronze
figure and separate base. The separate base is then welded to the figure
creating for the first time a rough outline of the entire piece.
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Using a hammer & chisel to remove the earthen
mold |
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The piece is then given to another worker who removes all the
excess metal from the piece. They use a hammer and sharp chisel to physically
remove the excess metal from the pouring mouth, the runners and any other excess
metal that accumulated on the piece. It is often times a very violent process
as a lot of energy is need to remove the metal.
The piece is then given to another person who uses a small tool
to scrap down the entire exterior of the piece. The iron tool has a long thin
handle with a small “L” shaped curved front. The head of the piece is very this
and flat. This portion is used to move up and down on the bronze. The edge is
moved up and down the bronze perpendicularly. This removes any irregularities
on the surface of the bronze made but the filing of the previous step. The
color changes from a rough golden sheen into a bright, smooth bronze polish.
The filing and scraping process of this stage is very long (taking days rather
than hours), difficult and monotonous. The following is how long the filing and
scraping process takes;
5 days for a 12 inch bronze statue
12 days
for a 24 inch bronze statue
20 days for a 36 inch bronze statue
30 days for a 48 inch bronze statue
40 days for a 60 inch bronze statue
50 days for a 72 inch bronze statue
The previous steps of breaking the mold, chiseling, filing and
scraping are preformed more by apprentices rather than artists as they are more
menial steps. The next step of chiseling the details requires a lot of skill
and is therefore not performed by an apprentice but by an experienced bronze
artist.
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The carving of the facial features is the most important portion
of this step. A gifted artist can turn any face into the face of a
beautiful or handsome god!
A fat face can be carved to be made thinner, a lifeless mouth can
be made to smile.
The carving of the face is the last step of the process because
this step is where Life truly enters the piece and the bronze ceases to be metal
and becomes a god.
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The unfinished face of Nataraja |
