South Indian Bronzes: A Historical Survey of South Indian Sculpture with Iconographical Notes Based on Original Sources c8.1

c8.1

IN studying this school of bronzes it will be useful to consider the methods and process employed and the rules followed by these artists. Bronze is technically known by these artists as *Panchalouha*, literally the ‘five irons’—the amalgam being composed of the five metals—copper, silver, gold, brass and white lead. The copper forms the chief ingredient and according to the present practice the gold and silver are generally dispensed with. In most of the modern images the amalgam is made of the following proportions :—10 parts of copper, ½ part of brass and ¼ part of white lead. The process employed in casting the images is most well-known as the *cire perdu* or the ‘lost-wax’ process. The image is first modelled in wax in actual size which is wrapped in a thick coating of soft clay kept in position by wires. The wax model is then caused to be melted away by the application of heat which leaves a ‘hollow’ in which the amalgam is poured in. After the metal has set and cooled, the mud wrapper is removed and the figure is then chased and chiselled and all the fine finish is then worked at which sometimes takes days and months, according to the skill and technical power of the artist. It is clear, that unlike the copper-gilt images of the Tibeto-Nepal School, the South Indian *Pancha louha* sculptures are all cast in solid metals. This is also the case with the metal images found in Ceylon. There are actual texts which forbid the casting of hollow images. The Ceylonese rule is found in the canon attributed to Sariputra which runs as follows:—“No images of gold or other metal should be cast hollow within. The making of hollow images will ere long result in the loss of wife and wealth and lead to quarrels and famine.” (Coomaraswamy *Mediæval Sinhalese Art*, p. 154.)