The earliest bronze ware unearthed in China is the Majiayao cultural bronze knife unearthed in Linjia, Dongxiang, Gansu, about 2700 BC.
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Bronze ware making technology
Fan casting method and lost wax method, fan casting method is the earliest and most widely used. Understanding the ancient manufacturing methods is helpful to distinguish fakes.
1, fan casting method
Die casting method, also known as die casting method, first uses clay mold to carve out various patterns and inscriptions, then dries them in the shade and fires them to make the master mold. Then the master mold is used to make a clay mold, and the clay mold is also dried in the shade to make a ceramic mold, and the alloy is melted, and then the alloy is poured into the cavity of the ceramic mold to make a bronze finished product.
According to the physical objects unearthed from the ruins of ancient bronze workshops, combined with the shape analysis of bronzes, experts believe that most ancient Chinese bronzes were cast by paradigm.
The technological process of model casting method is divided into five steps:
The first step is to mold and use clay to shape the basic shape of bronze. Draw the outline of bronze decoration on the prepared clay mold, the concave part is directly carved from the clay mold, and the convex part is separately prepared and pasted on the surface of the clay mold;
The second step is to turn over the fan, that is, the fine mud mixed evenly in advance is tightly pressed on the surface of the clay mold, and the shape and ornamentation of the clay mold are printed on the clay piece after flapping;
The third step is to combine the mud blocks, divide them into several pieces, and then burn them into pottery. This kind of clay is hard and not easy to deform, so it is called pottery. Pottery models are assembled to form the outer cavity of the object, which is called the outer mold. After the outer mold is made, a thin layer of clay mold for turning over the mold is cut off evenly to make the inner surface of the object, which is called the inner mold, and the bronze inscription is engraved on the inner mold. The inner and outer molds are connected into a whole, and the gap cut between the inner and outer molds is where the copper liquid remains, and the distance between them is the thickness of the bronze ware;
The fourth step is pouring, in which the copper liquid is poured into the ceramic mold. After the copper liquid is solidified, the inner and outer ceramic molds are broken and the cast bronze ware is taken out. A set of pottery models can only cast one bronze, and it is impossible to have two identical bronzes;
The fifth step is to polish and renovate. The newly cast bronzes have rough surfaces and unclear decorative patterns, and need to be polished and renovated to become exquisite bronzes.
2, lost wax method
Lost wax method is a precision casting method for bronze and other metal objects. The method is to use beeswax as the model of the casting, and then fill the mud core with other refractory materials and smear it on the outside. After heating and baking, the wax model completely melts and falls off, making the whole casting model an empty shell. Then pour the solution into it, and it will be cast into an object. Objects can be beautifully carved and have a hollow effect. The bronze statue and copper plate unearthed from the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Sui County, Hubei Province are the earliest known lost wax castings in China.
In the late Spring and Autumn Period, China people may have invented the lost wax casting process. The technological process of lost wax method is divided into three steps. Firstly, a wax model is made of easily melted paraffin, and fine mud is poured into the wax model for many times to harden it and form the casting shape. Then, the casting is baked and vitrified. In this process, paraffin melts and flows out, forming a cavity in the casting. Finally, the copper water is poured into the cavity to make the object.
Lost wax method is usually used to cast bronzes with very complicated shapes. The bronze plate of Chu State unearthed in Xichuan, Henan Province and the Zunpan of Zeng Hou unearthed in Suizhou, Hubei Province are thought to have been cast by lost wax method.
3. Mud casting method
The casting method of casting an object at one time is called mud casting. If the shape of the vessel is too large or too complicated, it is necessary to divide the whole vessel into several pieces, turn them upside down and cast them separately, and finally splice them into a whole. This casting method is called individual casting. When casting multiple smaller objects, multiple casting molds will be stacked together, and copper water will be poured from one gate to cast multiple objects at one time. This process is called pile casting. Stacking casting method is mostly used to cast small objects such as coins, which appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period and gradually became popular in the Han Dynasty.
References:
Baidu encyclopedia-bronze ware