History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c13.s2.t11.11

v1.c13.s2.t11.11

Brasses have been the alloy of the more civilised agriculture based communical culture and it had found extensive domestic uses. Brasses containing 20 to 30% Zn have very good ductility and they can be shaped by any metal craft technique. In this period more refined technique of preparation of these alloy were developed by direct alloying as described by Kautilya in his Arthasastra and Saraswati (1936). In the Chola period this alloy has been extensively used for production of beautiful idols and icons using ‘Cire-perdue’ casting technique.