cire perdue
(Fr.: ‘lost wax’).
A method of making cast metal sculpture. In essence the technique involves producing a model of the sculpture consisting of a thin layer of wax over a heat-resistant core of clay or plaster; the wax is then covered with another heat-resistant layer, and when the wax is melted and drained off, molten metal is poured into the cavity that the ‘lost wax’ has created. The technique, developed independently in every continent except Australasia, was used by the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans and is still the main means of casting used for traditional bronze sculpture. Casting sculptures of any size is an industrial process requiring great expertise, and there is a celebrated account in Cellini's autobiography of the difficulties he encountered (and heroically overcame) with his statue of Perseus.
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