Bronze casting has a long history, but most of the questions we hear revolve around Frederick Remington. The most commonly asked questions about Remington are How is he important in a historical sense?, What is the value of his works?, Why are they seen everywhere?, and How do they differ from our bronzes? Frederick Remington was the first artist to depict the American West in bronze and to use the Lost Wax Casting Process here in the United States. Most of his original bronzes are now in private collections or museums - when they do come on the auction market through Sothebys or Christies in New York they usually sell for millions of dollars. Many copies of Remington's work can be seen in shops all over - even K-Mart! The copyrights have expired on Remington's artwork which makes it legal for anyone to reproduce his images. People do this by taking molds off existing bronzes which are usually copies themselves. Much of the detail and proportions of the original are lost this way. These copies are unlimited and are called recasts - they are made in Korea, China, Mexico and Japan. Recasts are also made of many materials besides bronze. They come in plastic, cold cast, resin and machine molded bronze. Because of this variety some of the earlier recasts done with the true Lost Wax Casting Process are becoming more valuable as ones of lessor quality flood the market. At Mountain Trails Galleries we sell only original bronze castings in limited editions. Our artists use the centuries-old Lost Wax Casting Process which retains the integrity and exquisite detail of the original sculpture.
Because it is so much fun meeting our sculptors and watching them work, 15 years ago Mountain Trails Galleries pioneered a new way of marketing - what is now known in galleries as PRECAST. What is a precast?, What happens to the price?, Why are certain numbers chosen? And Is documentation included? The term 'precast' refers to a sculpture before it is cast into bronze. We offer a special precast promotional price as each bronze is being sculpted. As an edition sells out the price increases and then when it is issued in bronze the price increases even more. This way of being able to buy a bronze has advantages and disadvantages. A collector can buy a bronze for much less than retail, but they have to wit several months to actually receive their finished bronze; however, a deposit guarantees the precast price and whichever number is chosen. With modern day silicone molds the number that is chosen does not reflect the value of a piece. Our clients have fun choosing numbers for birthdays, anniversaries, or lucky numbers! Each number becomes a legal registration mark for insurance purposes. A Certificate of Authenticity is also issued with each bronze which guarantees the edition size and is the legal documentation for the artwork. The best part though, is seeing your bronze being 'born' - it is just magical to watch the clay evolve and to see how much life there is in the finished bronze!!
To progress from clay into bronze our artists only use the Lost Wax Casting Process. There is no other way to duplicate the beauty and quality of a fine art bronze than by this labor intensive method. Each of the 32 steps is hand done by craftsmen at a fine art bronze foundry and is carefully supervised by the artist. Technical questions include What type of clay is used?, Is there an armature?, What types of molds are used?, What is the Lost Wax Casting Process?, How are the colors applied? and How do you care for the finished bronze? I'll try to give just an overview here answering only the most frequently asked questions! (We have to really keep on our toes to be able to answer all of the questions about Lost Wax Casting). The original sculpture can be out of any material - the most common are wood, stone, wax or clay. Our artists use an oil based clay from Chavant Clay in Red Bank, New Jersey. This type of clay never dries so the artists can work on the sculpture until completion. Depending on the individual artist this time frame can be from six months to a year. The only negative about clay is that there is no way to preserve the original as it gets destroyed in the mold making process. Another characteristic of clay is that an armature or inner structure must be made for support. This support usually consists of metal piping and aluminum wire.
After the artist has completed the artwork with all the details he/she wants in the final bronze, the molding process begins. The first mold is a liquid silcone rubber that is paintied and sprayed onto the clay original - after it cures the mold maker adds a supporting shell out of plaster and peels the slicone off the clay ( the clay is then reused for a new sculpture). The silicone rubber mold is where all of the original detail is captured - it will even pick up fingerprints. Size and complexity determines how many separate pieces the mold involves - delicate sections sometimes have to be removed and cast separately to be re-attached at a later time. The next phase involves the pouring of the wax. Liquid wax is repeatedly poured into the soft silicone mold and emptied out until the wax thickens to 1/8 - 1/4 inch. The final bronze will be poured to the exact thickness of the wax so this is a very important step for a good cast. The wax is removed from the silicone rubber and looks identical to the original clay sculpture. (A new wax must be poured for each bronze so this rubber mold will be used over and over for the whole edition.) Wax pipes or 'sprues' are attached which will function as air vents and pouring channels for the future ceramic mold.
The completed wax form is then dipped into liquid ceramic slurry which eventually forms a hard shell. (In earlier times the molds were made out of sand - much detail was lost and the sand would wear out quickly necessitating very small editions. With modern silicone and ceramic molds large editions are possible with no loss of quality or detail.) The ceramic mold is the most time consuming step of the Lost Wax Casting Process taking sometimes three weeks for each bronze. Up to eighteen layers of slurry are added to the wax. Fine sand is dusted on in between layers and drying time must be allowed before the next dipping. The ceramic and wax structure is now put into a big oven where the wax is completely melted out of the ceramic shell (hence the name Lost Wax). The hollow ceramic shell is now ready for the liquid bronze which is poured at 2200 degrees Fahrenheit. Bronze is a mixture of 95% copper with alloys of manganese, silica and zinc although different foundries may use other combinations. As the bronze cools the ceramic mold cracks and breaks. The foundry specialist then uses hammers, chisels and sandblasting to clean the metal inside and out. Any piece that has had to be cast separartely can now be welded or 'braised' back together. The sculpture then has to be cleaned and retextured - commonly known as ''chasing'.
So much of bronze's beauty is in its coloring - artists achieve individual looks by several methods. The first is by traditional chemical patinas - bronze changes color depending on the chemicals and temperatures used. Sulphurated potash or liver of sulfate is applied to blacken the metal and then a series of nitrates and other chemicals are sprayed or brushed on at various temperatures [cupric nitrate is used for greens and blues, ferric nitrate for browns and reds and bismuth nitrate for whites]. Another method of coloring a bronze is polychrome - the bronze surface is heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit to open its pores and acrylic enamel is applied. The enamel then soaks into the pores and bonds to the metal. After the coloring is finished a hot wax coating is added to arrest the patina process and to seal the metal from the air. The only care needed for the completed sculpture is an occasional dusting with a dry cloth - no chemicals should be used as they may destroy the patina. The base is then attached and the bronze is ready to be shipped to the proud new owner. There is no other art medium that gives such lasting beauty than a finely cast bronze - it will last for centuries and become a family heirloom. If, by chance, I have not answered all your questions about bronzes please visit our galleries at Tlaquepaque Village in Sedona, Arizona and put us through our paces - Hope to see you soon!
